Four lAA Veterans Retire 



MANY years of services and devotion 

 to the cause of Farm Bureau and 

 to the farmers of Illinois are represented 

 in the careers of men who retired from 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 board of directors at the 31st annual 

 meeting in Chicago. 



Talmage Defrees, Greenville, Bond 

 county, who retired as vice-president, 

 was first elected to the lAA board in 

 1932 and served a two-year term as 

 representative from the 22nd Congres- 

 sional district. In 1935 he was elected 

 as vice-president and has served con- 

 tinuously in that capacity since that time. 



A charter member of the Bond Count)- 

 Farm Bureau, Mr. Defrees has been a 

 builder for Farm Bureau and Farm Bu- 

 reau cooperatives. Operator of a 240- 

 acre farm east of Greenville, Mr. 

 Defrees was a founder and early director 

 of the Illinois Fruit Growers Exchange, 

 an lAA affiliate located at Carbondale. 

 At the present time he is vice-president 

 of the Exchange. He also ser\'ed as 

 president of the Bond County Farm Bu- 

 reau for five years in its early days, 

 certain As a young man, Mr. Defrees was 



awarded an appointment to the U. S. 

 Naval Academy at Annapolis, but cir- 

 cumstances arose that made it impossible 

 for him to attend. His only brother, 

 who went in his place and was graduated 

 in 1900, has had a long and notable 

 career in the Navy and served during 

 World War II as an admiral. 



Mr. Defrees attended Greenville Col- 

 lege near his home and later was edu- 

 cated at Drake University, Des Moines, 

 and at the University of Chicago. 



As one of the outstanding farmers of 

 southern Illinois, Mr. Defrees was 

 awarded the Master Farmer medal by 

 Prairie Farmer in 1930. An able plat- 

 form speaker, Mr. Defrees has addressed 

 Farm Bureau and civic groups through- 

 out the state, and through his efforts has 

 contributed materially to the growth of 

 Farm Bureau in Illinois. In announcing 

 his retirement, Mr. Defrees indicated that 

 he was planning on catching up on his 

 fishing, but at the same time he also 

 planned to continue his efforts in the 

 interest of Farm Bureau. 



Alvin O. Eckert, Belleville, St. Clair 

 county, who retired as director repre- 

 senting the 22nd Congressional district, 

 is another man who has given freely of 

 his time and efforts to Farm Bureau. He 

 was first elected to the lAA board in 

 1921 and served a two-year term, and 

 in 1923 was named vice-president to 

 serve with Sam H. Thompson, Quincy, 

 Adams county. In 1934, Mr. Eckert was 

 re-elected to the lAA board, and has 

 served continuously since that time. He 

 has made a major contribution to the 



Tobnage Defrees 



lAA program through his service as 

 chairman of the marketing committee. 



Mr. Eckert assisted in organizing the 

 St. Clair County Farm Bureau and the 

 Illinois Fruit Growers Exchange, of 

 which he is now president, and served 

 seven years as president of his Farm 

 Bureau. He also was on the board of 

 the Federated Fruit Growers of Amer- 

 ica. He has a lOOO-acre farm, 500 acres 

 of which is in orchard. He also feeds 

 hogs and cattle and operates a roadside 

 stand which has become famous through- 

 out Illinois. 



Mr. Eckert has three sons who are 

 partners with him in the farming busi- 

 ness. Cornell is a first lieutenant in the 

 Army and has been in service for more 

 than four years. Before entering the 

 services, Cornell managed the orchard. 

 Curt Eckert manages the livestock opera- 

 tions of the farm, and Vernon runs the 

 market. 



Mr. Eckert has served as president of 

 the Illinois State Horticulture Society and 

 is a holder of the Master Farmer medal 

 awarded by Prairie Farmer, and was 

 president for several years of the Master 



Farmer Club of America. He has sch'cd 

 as director of the Belleville Chamber of 

 Commerce. 



Albert Hayes, Chillicothe, Peoria coun- 

 ty, who retired as director from the 16th 

 Congressional district, has been long ac- 

 tive in Farm Bureau and served on the 

 lAA board continuously from 1934 

 through 1945. During his f)eriod of 

 se^^'ice on the board he was a member 

 of the finance committee for 10 years. 



Mr. Hayes' interest in Farm Bureau 

 in the early days was recognized by his 

 election as township director and later 

 as secretary and treasurer of the Peoria 

 County Farm Bureau. He also was first 

 president of the Peoria Ser\'ice Company. 



Mr. Hayes has held numerous offices 

 in civic and cooperative affairs including 

 directorships on the boards of the First 

 National Bank of Chillicothe, Peoples 

 Building and Loan Association of Chilli- 

 cothe, and Peoria County National Farm 

 Loan Association. He also ser%'ed as 

 township supervisor for 13 years, as 

 chairman of the board of trustees of 

 Mossville Methodist Church, trustee of 

 the Peoria Methodist Hospital, director 

 of Peoria County Tuberculosis Sanitarium 

 Di.strict, member of Agricultural com- 

 mittee, Peoria Association of Commerce, 

 chairman of agricultural committee of 

 Peoria district OPA. Mr. and Mrs. 

 Hayes have three sons, two of whom are 

 in the European zone of occupation serv- 

 ing their countr)-, and one at home on 

 the farm. Mr. Hayes operates a 194- 

 acre grain and livestock farm and is a 

 hybrid seed corn grower. Mr. Hayes 

 was awarded the Prairie Farmer Master 

 Farmer award in the '30s. 



W. A. Dennis, Paris, Edgar county, 

 who retired as director representing the 

 18th Congressional district, served on the 

 lAA board from 1930 to 1934 and from 

 1938 through 1945. A graduate of 

 Har%'ard Universit)' in 1911, Mr. Dennis 

 has been a Farm Bureau member for 30 

 years, and has served a.s secretary, vice- 

 president and president of the Edgar 

 County Farm Supply Company, and as 



(CoHliimeJ on pjge 46) 



Albert Hayes 

 (16th DisL) 



A. O. 

 (22nd 



Eckert 

 Dist.) 



W. A. Dennis 

 (18th DisL) 



DECEMBER. 1945 



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