Posted on August 24, 2015 at 9:13 AM by Global Reach
Tom and Norma Troxel, living on a Century Farm in rural Farragut have been involved in Fremont County 4-H for most of their lives. Tom, a 4th generation ag producer was both a member, and a leader, of the Southeast Future Farmers 4-H Club. Norma, one of 11 kids, was a member of the West Walnut Eveready 4-H Club and Walnut-Monroe-Prairie. She was a club leader for the Fisher Loyal Workers for nearly 20 years. Norma also served 2 terms on Extension Council, over 35 years on the 4-H Youth Committee and was also a member of the Fremont County 4-H Endowment Committee.
Tom and Norma are both members of Farragut’s Class of 1974. Following graduation, Tom starting farming and Norma attended Northwest Missouri State College. The high school sweethearts were married in 1977 and have three daughters: Andria, Maggie and Kimberly. All three Troxel daughters are alumni of Fremont County 4-H. When asked how 4-H impacted their lives, they were eager to list the skills gained through 4-H they still use today. Those include management, leadership, communication, writing, documenting, collaboration and team-work. They all credit 4-H with teaching them responsibility, reliability and the importance of keeping good records.
"Being a 4-H family kept us close," said Tom. Tom remembers precious time spent with his daughters breaking calves to lead, grinding feed and raising lambs. Norma recalls all the fun she had, as a mom and a leader, working with the kids to plan and prepare meals for club family nights. She is excited to think about the culinary, budgeting, nutrition, table-setting and customer service skills gained by the youth through just this one activity.
Something special to Fremont County, and the Troxels, is the Annual Cherry Pie Contest and Auction. Norma was pleased to once be named the Reserve Champion Cherry Pie Baker. Money raised by the auction is used to fund trips to the Citizenship Washington Focus program every three years. Tom and Norma first traveled to the capitol in the summer
of 1972 as high school juniors. It was a remarkable trip, they said, but experiencing Washington, D.C. in 2000 as chaperones for their daughter, Maggie’s delegation, was even more rewarding. "It was extremely moving to watch the kids experience the war memorials. They knew so much about American history and were so engaged in the sites they were seeing. It was just amazing," said Norma.
In addition to their many years of dedication to the Fremont County 4-H program, Tom and Norma have been actively involved with St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Shenandoah. Tom served on the Fremont-Page Corn & Soybean Growers and Norma served on the Tri-Valley Bank board and the Fremont-Page Relay for Life committee.
Fremont County 4-H is pleased to honor Tom and Norma Troxel and wishes to thank them for the tireless dedication and countless hours spent teaching life skills to youth and supporting family togetherness as 4-H volunteers.
Categories: Fremont
