This year the Henry County Farm Bureau Foundation, in conjunction with the Wilbert & Carol Keppy Foundation, Kevin & Karen Urick and the Glenn & Betty DeSmith Memorial are proud to present $42,000 in scholarships to high school seniors and college students pursuing higher education.
The Henry County Farm Bureau Foundation was formed in the Spring of 1984 to carry out charitable, scientific, literary, and educational work in the field of agriculture. The Foundation awards scholarships each year to graduating high school seniors and college students pursing degrees in Agriculture. New for 2023, the Foundation has created the Trade and Technical Program Scholarship for individuals pursuing training in an area of a skilled trade.
Wilbert and Carol Keppy farmed and raised hogs along the Osco slab for decades. The Keppy’s were instrumental in starting the Henry County Pork Producers and were among a group of pork producers throughout the state that started the Illinois Pork Producers in the early 1960s. The Keppy Foundation annually provides scholarships for students in Henry County.
The Kevin and Karen Urick Farm Bureau Legacy Scholarship honors a recipient from a farm family, that has been involved for multiple generations, in Henry County Farm Bureau. Farm Bureau has impacted the Urick family for multiple generations. This scholarship is designed to honor the organization that has served as an educational, social, and economic tool for its members, as the “Voice of Agriculture” in Henry County, since 1917.
The Glenn and Betty DeSmith Memorial Scholarship honors the life of Glenn and Betty DeSmith of Geneseo. The DeSmith’s farmed southwest of Annawan until their retirement in 1990. Glenn and Betty were very active in their church, community and Farm Bureau. The DeSmith Memorial Scholarship recognizes students who are involved in the livestock industry and their family farms.
Henry County Farm Bureau Foundation Agricultural Scholarship
Clayton Baum - Iowa State University, Agricultural Business
Hailey VanOpdorp - Western Illinois University, Agricultural Business, Agronomy & Communications
Hunter Gustus - Parkland College, Agricultural Diesel Tech
Madeline Nightingale - Lake Land College, Ag Transfer
Madison Casteel - Black Hawk East, Agronomy & Soil Science
Sarah Kaiser - University of Illinois, Agriculture Marketing and Consumer Economics
Kevin & Karen Urick Farm Bureau Legacy Scholarship
Kendra Downing - University of Wisconsin Platteville, Horticulture & Soil and Crop Science, Agribusiness
Glen & Betty DeSmith Memorial Scholarship
Annie Johnson - University of Wisconsin Platteville, Agriculture Education and Technology Education
Kaden Davison - Iowa State University, Ag Engineering Power & Machinery Option
Taylor Burke - Agricultural Education, University of Tennessee at Martin
Wilbert & Carol Keppy Foundation Scholarship
Alexis Spivey - Illinois Central College, Dental Hygiene
Emma Frank - Oklahoma State University, Animal Science Pre-Vet
Kendra Downing - University of Wisconsin Platteville, Horticulture & Soil and Crop Science, Agribusiness
HCFB Foundation Trade and Technical Program Scholarship
Evan Krause - Black Hawk College, CDL/Welding
Kaden Larson - Midwest Technical Institute, Welding