The Farmer’s Wife

Posted May 26th, 2008 by Jen in family life, features, the ranch

In the high desert of Central Oregon lies one small valley, so green and fertile that one forgets for a moment which side of the Cascades this is. The fields are grassy, the elk wander down from the hills to graze with the cattle, and the verdant hills rise up to meet the juniper and sage which overlay the bluffs, the only visible reminders that this is, indeed, the desert. It’s here in the heart of the Lone Pine Valley that I caught up with Connie Hegele, who, with her husband and sons, owns the Walking H Ranch.

Connie has three grown children and one daughter-in-law, and in a rare situation by today’s standards, has her entire family working, in some capacity, in the family business. Businesses, I should say. The Hegeles also own American Sprinklers, in operation since 1975, and Lone Pine Clydesdales, now the second largest breeder in Oregon. One of her sons, Travis, runs SAR, an environmental consulting corporation.The Hegeles also own commercial property in Portland as well as Central Oregon.

Connie and her husband, Chuck, are both native Oregonians, and I would be hard pressed to find another family that so well represents the pioneer spirit for which Oregon is famous. Had they lived in the 1840s, I’m sure they would have been blazing the Oregon Trail. Here in the Lone Pine Valley, the Walking H Ranch sits on 277 beautiful acres, and they farm 106 irrigated acres. Connie’s boys are in full charge of the farm, and I see this as the mark of a wise woman, that her children continue her work and are themselves productive citizens.

Growing up on a farm with milk cows, horses, and goats, Connie is no stranger to farm life. She spent her childhood summers at her granddad’s 100,000 acre ranch in Burns, rounding up cattle and cutting hay to load on the wagons still pulled by draft horses. Connie always loved those draft horses, and for her birthday about a dozen years ago, Chuck gave her a little black Clydesdale, and the rest is history. For their 36th anniversary four years ago, he gave her (they actually gave each other) a pair of buffalo, so we’ll see where that goes!

Connie is a woman who seems to be everywhere at once, and it was hard for me to pull this post together. Her work is often behind-the-scenes, and all the details that seem to magically come together are because of her untiring efforts. Let me just give you a snapshot of one of her days this weekend.

The Hegeles planned a Memorial Day party/cannon shoot/BBQ at the old Lone Pine Elementary School, which was sold by the county years ago, and purchased and renovated by the Hegele family, beginning in 1998. So, I found Connie up bright and early Saturday morning, setting the tables, arranging food and decorations, making last minute phone calls. In their usual generous way, they had invited us to join in the festivities.

If you had happened to be driving by, you would have been invited, too. Later that evening, at my table sat four strangers - a man who had been motoring by on his Harley the week before and noticed Chuck’s cannon (he builds cannons and I’ll need an entire post just to fill you in on Chuck). Chuck showed the man his shop and gave him the full tour, along with an invitation to the Memorial Day weekend party. Here he was, and he’d brought his wife and son and daughter-in-law. I heard him comment, “These are the friendliest bunch of people I’ve ever met.” At the next table over, I noticed one of the Hegeles’ farm workers and his family. Behind them sat an old couple that Connie’s son, Rocky, had sold cattle to years ago. And Connie feeds them all. “Growing up on Granddad’s ranch, they always did that,” she said.

There are the nuts and bolts of what Connie does for the family business: she does the books, the bulk of the paperwork, running supplies, bidding projects, handling phone calls, showing their real estate in Portland and here. Then there are the intangibles, the truly significant features that can’t be defined in a job description: she has raised children who love and respect her and stick around to work in the family businesses, she has taken in other kids who’ve temporarily lost their way or are in need, she labors side by side with her husband, supporting him in all things, she is back and forth to Portland caring for her ailing mother, she is generous and hospitable even to the undeserving.

I presented a few questions for Connie to answer for my readers, and her responses are short - because as you know, the farm wife barely has a moment to sit - but sensible.

Jen: The culture of the family farm is dying, and your family is one of the only ones I personally know that is making it work. In the truest sense of a “family farm,” the family and the farm are inseparable - what does this look like in your family?

Connie: The family farm, to be successful, needs to have some of the same goals and be open to new ideas.

And I should add here that I see this with the Hegele family - whether the project is renovating an old schoolhouse or raising horses, I see this unity - whether it’s Connie’s daughter, Candy, picking out the new paint for the school or her daughter-in-law Alisha helping a mare give birth, they are all working toward the same goals.

Jen: One of the unfortunate casualties of modern agriculture is that a family can hardly make a living on the farm anymore. How does your family overcome this economic reality?

Connie: Our family farm is considered extra income. The income is put toward an investment, usually a piece of equipment.

This would explain all those other businesses - it’s extremely difficult these days for individual families to make a living solely on a farm income.

Jen: We talked a bit about a husband and wife working together in the family business, as you and I both do. And we’ve both heard the comments about “I could never do that.” What makes this partnership work for you and Chuck?

Connie: Respect for each other and working together toward new goals. Life always needs to be open to new interests and ideas.

Jen: I’m impressed with the fact that your grown children are so involved in what you do, especially in a modern culture where families are, more often than not, scattered or estranged from one another. What advice would you give to a young family regarding ways to build community and a culture of “togetherness” within the family unit?

Connie: Take time to listen to each other about what you want out of life. Be able to look outside of the box.

Great advice, thanks Connie! I hope you’ve enjoyed this visit to the country; stop in and say hello.

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