Former South Dakota state Agriculture Secretary Larry Gabriel of Quinn has been named one of two Eminent Farmers for the year by South Dakota State University.
The other winner is Ronald Alverson of Wentworth. SDSU also named Rae Jean Gee of Brookings and Mildred "Millie" Gross of Madison as this year's Eminent Homemakers.
All four will be honored at a 6:30 p.m. Sept. 11 banquet at the SDSU Student Union in Brookings. To order tickets, call 688-4148, or ask to purchase them at a county Extension Service office.
Gabriel served as Haakon County commissioner, as a state legislator from 1983-1998, as state House majority leader from 1993-98 and agriculture secretary from 2000-2007. He is vice chairman of the Philip Health Service after more than a decade on the board.
The school said his achievements included:
- revitalizing the State Fair.
- creation of the South Dakota Certified Enrolled Cattle.
- helping to increase livestock feeding in South Dakota
- creation of the state Division of Wildland Fire Suppression and the Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center at Rapid City Regional Airport.
- funding for livestock producers to complete engineering designs for animal feeding operations and to comply with federal water pollution control laws.
- encouraging expansion of dairy processing.
- the fund-raising campaign for a new acute care hospital in Philip. The project, completed in 2002, received the Outstanding Philanthropic Community Award for the state.
Gabriel and his wife, Charlotte, have two children.
"My childhood - growing up on a ranch, where hard work was the norm -- it shaped my policies, and my position on many things," Gabriel said. "When I received the (Eminent Farmer) honor, I questioned if I was worthy. I feel humbled and truly honored to be named."
