Nov. 19, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information contact:

Carrie Heitman, communications coordinator, at 816-383-5100 or cheitman@angus.org; or Shelia Stannard, director of activities and events, at 816-383-5100 or sstannard@angus.org.

PHOTOS: Available from prphotos@angus.org.

VIDEO: Highlights from the 129th Annual Meeting.

Angus Heritage Foundation Welcomes New Inductees

Five breed leaders honored during the Annual Awards Banquet in Louisville, Ky.

The American Angus Association^® is built on generations of farm and ranch families devoted to raising Angus cattle and positioning the Association as a leader in the beef business. It is due to their unrivaled passion and perseverance that the breed is successful in today’s marketplace.

To honor leaders involved in shaping the Angus legacy, each year the Association inducts members into the Angus Heritage Foundation. Five new additions were recognized Nov. 12 during the Association’s Annual Awards Banquet in Louisville, Ky.

The 2012 inductees are: Howard Hillman, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Joe Bill Meng, Bowling Green, Ky.; and Stan Prox, Macomb, Ill.; Marvin Walter, formerly of Ames, Iowa, posthumously; and Marvin and Katheryn Robertson, formerly of Aldie, Va., posthumously.

Each inductee or a family representative received a framed Angus Heritage Foundation certificate and their names will be engraved on the Heritage Foundation plaque displayed in the library of the Association headquarters in Saint Joseph, Mo.

Photos and biographies will be included in the next edition of the Angus Heritage Foundation booklet. Read more about the 2012 inductees in the paragraphs that follow.

Howard Hillman

The Angus breed has supported the Hillman family for generations, starting with the first bull purchase in 1908. Today, Howard Hillman is dedicated to giving back to the breed that has given him so much.

Howard graduated from South Dakota State University with a degree in animal science, and partnered with his father, Clarence, to continue to the family owned operation, Bon View Farms in Canova, S.D.

The Angus seedstock operation raised elite cattle, recognized by many throughout the industry. Bon View Farms bred many Angus cattle that continue to be a part of the Angus breed pedigrees today.

Although Bon View Farms dispersed in 1999, Howard remains part of the Angus community in a number of leadership roles, including the 2001 president of the American Angus Association Board of Directors. Howard was also co-chair for the Angus Foundation’s Vision of Value: Campaign for Angus, and he and his wife, JoAnne, were awarded the National Junior Angus Association Foundation Award in 2012.

Howard and JoAnne, married nearly 50 years, attribute all honors to the hard work of their family – daughter, Rhonda, and her husband, Rob; son, Brad, and his wife, Carmen; and nine grandchildren.

Joe Bill Meng

Joe Bill Meng’s Angus roots go back to the year he was born, 1947. That same year his father and grandfather purchased 20 Angus heifers and established Meng Farms Inc. in Bowling Green, Ky.

His involvement started by showing cattle in both 4-H and FFA, and he represented Kentucky in the first National Junior Showmanship Competition. Joe Bill was also the first president of the Kentucky Junior Angus Association.

A graduate of Western Kentucky University, Joe Bill holds an animal science degree and was a member of the livestock judging team. He returned to the family farm after college and continued his judging career to more than 250 livestock shows across the United States and Canada, including the National Angus Show and the National Junior Angus Show.

Throughout his career, Joe Bill has continued to be involved with the Angus breed as manager of the American Angus Breeders Futurity, associate at the American Angus Hall of Fame, and vice-president of Creekstone Farms Premium Beef LLC. He also served the American Angus Association in two terms on its Board of Directors. In addition, Joe Bill is a charter member of the National Cattlemen’s Association and the Kentucky Beef Cattle Association.

He and his wife, Debbie, have four children – Alissa, Will, Ann and Lucy – and five grandchildren.

Stan Prox

Known as Mr. Illinois Angus, Stan Prox has been involved in the beef business for more than 60 years. It all started when he showed his first calf at 10 years old. Stan’s family had an Angus operation near Carthage, Ill., and growing up he was active in 4-H and FFA.

Leaving the farm after high school, Stan attended Western Kentucky University and worked on an Angus ranch for five years. He returned to Illinois in 1963 and became manager and co-owner of Vega Farms. In 1966 he, his father-in-law Wayne Sperry, and brother-in-law George Sperry formed the partnership for Shilo Farms.

Stan served as President of the Illinois Angus Association and has been business manager for 16 years. He's been chairman of the Illinois delegation to the American Angus Association’s Annual Meeting for 20 years, served on the selection committee for the Angus Heritage Foundation, and was the first recipient of the Illinois Angus Association's President's Award for his commitment and dedication to Illinois Angus cattle, youth and activities. In 2011, Stan was honored as the Land of Lincoln Purebred Breeder's Association Man of the Year.

The Prox family is active in promoting beef products, as well. For 25 years, Stan has sold ribeye sandwiches from his Chuckwagon Food Stand at local and state fairs, and festivals.

Stan still maintains a small herd at Shilo Farms, and he and his wife, Linda, have two married daughters – Carrie and Jeff Keeney, and Colette and Matt Culbertson – and three granddaughters, Kayla Widerman and Emma and Anna Culbertson.

Marvin and Katheryn Robertson

Marvin and Katheryn Robertson, Aldie, Va., were passionate about the land and the farming way of life. Through more than 30 years as co-founders of Whitestone Farm, they were avid supporters of programs involving education, youth and research for the advancement of the Angus Breed.

Affectionately known as Kitty and Robby, the couple married in 1945 and spent the next 65 years together. Katheryn was a city girl, but grew to love the peace and tranquility of rural America. Agriculture was in Robby’s blood. Born on his families’ farm in the small town of Elkhart, Iowa on March 29, 1923, Robby loved to work the land.

The Robertson’s purchased land that would become Whitestone Farm in 1981 with George Lemm, making Marvin’s dream of returning to his farming roots a reality.

Together, they grew a 122-acre farm with 49 head of commercial cattle into a progressive nationally known Angus seedstock operation. Today, Whitestone Farm consists of 2,200 acres of leased-and-owned land, and 1,200 head of cattle.

The couple hosted numerous national and local tours and events at Whitestone Farm, including the Young Cattleman’s Conference sponsored by the National Cattleman’s Beef Association. The Robertson family and Whitestone Farm have been recognized with several awards, including the 1998 All-American Angus Breeders’ Futurity Master Breeder of the Year, and the 1996 American Angus Association Land Steward of The Year Award.

Since the early to mid-1990s, Whitestone Farm produced and exhibited many state and national champions from coast to coast. In the spirit of Kitty and Robby’s memory, Whitestone Farm aspires to continue producing the finest Angus cattle possible.

Marvin Walter

A legacy in the meat business, Marvin Walter’s story begins in Watkins, Iowa, where he grew up on a 200-acre livestock farm. After graduating from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in animal science, Walter joined the American Meat Institute (AMI) staff for two years then continued as a commodity broker on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

In 1968, Walter took a chance and moved his family back to their Iowa roots. From the ground up, Walter and his business partner established the Carriage House Meat and Provision Co. His dedicated efforts ultimately paid off, and that company was just one out of 18, mostly agriculture related, that Walter had a hand in starting. He was also part owner of the company that operates the National Centralized Ultrasound Processing Laboratory & Technology Center (the CUP lab), which handles data for 26 breed associations.

Walter’s successful career came from his endless energy and his meaty mantra: no matter the business venture, quality is the bottom line.

That core belief allowed for W&G Marketing, a custom meats company, to come to life in 1979. The company now produces Certified Angus Beef^® brand precooked smoked beef brisket, barbecued beef and short ribs.

Following an eight-year struggle with multi-myeloma, bone cancer, Walter passed away in 2011. Walter and Janice have two daughters, Allyson Walter of Jewell, Iowa, and Stacy Woodward of Ames, and five grandchildren.

The American Angus Association is the nation’s largest beef organization, serving more than 30,000 members across the United States and Canada. It provides programs and services to farmers, ranchers and others who rely on the power of Angus to produce quality genetics for the beef industry and quality beef for consumers.

For more information about Angus cattle and the American Angus Association’s programs and services, visit www.angus.org.

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