2019 – Walsh Family

Working with Dairy and Beef Cattle and farming has been a way of life for J.D. and Joyce Walsh. J.D. was born in 1935, West of Chouteau on the farm that he and Joyce own. Joyce “Trogdon” Walsh was born in 1936, Northwest of Pryor. J.D. graduated from Chouteau and was active in FFA where he showed hogs at the County Fair. Joyce graduated from Pryor and was active in 4-H where she showed off her sewing skills and her canning at the fair.

Joyce was working as a bookkeeper for a propane company after she graduated high school when J.D. was sent by his dad to pay the propane bill. They found out later that his dad and the owner of the company had decided that they should meet. They were married in 1955 and had three sons; Gary, Randy, and Kevin Walsh. They had one daughter, Karen Walsh Hilton.

Work was hard to find and J.D. worked for Bill Chupp, Sr. on his dairy farm for nine months and drove a propane truck for Mayes County Propane. Joyce worked for Chupp Implement as a bookkeeper for a few months. In May 1957 they bought some comes and went into the Dair business with his parents, John and Opal Walsh. They were milking around 30 cows in a stanchion barn that held 7 cows. They also had 2 automatic milers.

In May 1966, they bought his parent’s dairy cows and the farm. In the early 70’s they remodeled the mild barn and put in a herringbone system. They went from milking 2 cows at a time to 8 cows at a time, 4 on each side. The also increased their herd from 30 cows to 90 and sometimes over 100. They also rented more land to farm and had another silo built to store silage for the winter.