Area farmers and cattlemen lost a good friend and ally April 26 with the passing of Richard Lee McConnell.
Though I didn’t know Richard really well, I felt a true sense of loss, too, when I read of his death in the Greene County Commonwealth/Republic Monitor nearly two weeks later.
Maybe it was just the realization that another bit of the fabric of my years as a regional farm writer had been torn away.
I first became acquainted with Richard some 20 years ago when he asked me to cover a stockmanship demonstration in Polk County. After 25 years as a country newspaper editor, I had been afforded an opportunity to work as a features and farm reporter for the parent company of the Buffalo, Bolivar, Stockton, Marshfield and other county weeklies.
For more than a decade I met some of the best people in the Ozarks — farmers, cattlemen and agriculture specialists like Richard. A former Peace Corps volunteer and vocational agriculture teacher, Richard had spent 17 years working for the Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District. Along with his wife, Tina, he also taught the Bud Williams style of gentle cattle handling. I made an instantaneous connection with Richard because his style was so similar to what my dad had taught me on our small dairy. Dad often spoke of using “cow sense” to drive cattle.
He never allowed the “wild west” system of hollering and racing after our cattle. The “trick,” as I saw it, was calmly getting cattle to decide to go where you wanted. Richard was a master of it.
Because we frequented the same cattlemen’s meetings and seminars, I crossed paths with Richard often in the first decade of this century — even attended a grazing workshop or two at his farm near Wishart.
Though I sort of lost track of Richard after I went from paid staff to freelance columnist, I always valued his friendship. Raised on a farm near Republic, Richard was the best sort of Ozarks “good ol’ boy.” He was more than glad to visit any time we happened to meet, as if it were the best thing to happen that day.
Like so many others from my farm writer days, Richard was one of those folks who made my life richer simply by knowing him.
I wish I could have had one last cup of coffee with him, but I thank the Lord for the times I could.
A former feature writer for Ozarks Farm and Neighbor, Jim Hamilton is a retired newspaper editor/publisher. Hamilton was reared on a small dairy farm in Dallas County, Mo. Contact Jim at [email protected].
