Obituaries
Robert W. Taylor
1935-2018
Robert W. Taylor, 83, resident of Lafayette passed away Tuesday, July 3, 2018 at home. He was born February 5, 1935 and grew up in Lawtons, NY, on Dancote Farm raising Angus beef. Bob graduated from Cornell University in 1956. On June 2, 1956 he married Anna B. Cady in Troupsburg, NY. They relocated to West Lafayette, IN, where he completed his MS and Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University. Bob joined Purdue faculty as a Farm Management Professor in the Agricultural Economics Department. His passion and concern for students was legendary, and he continued teaching and mentoring for 50 years at Purdue.
Bob was not just recognized and admired by his students for his caring approach to challenging their thinking and stimulating them to learn, but also for his sincere interest in them as individuals with personal as well as professional aspirations. Through his dynamic classes and caring connections with students, he built relationships that lasted a lifetime. He also worked in extension, emphasizing family farm business arrangements. Bob was a member of Evangelical Covenant Church of Lafayette, Indiana where he taught Jr High Sunday School for many years. He left his mark on thousands of families across Indiana.
Former students remember Dr. Taylor for his daily quizzes, expressive teaching style, and especially for his wonderful ability to listen. Grandchildren remember him for his enthusiastic stories and sneezes, his wholehearted encouragement in life and learning, and his raised eyebrows and the suspenders he wore.
Outside of teaching, Bob enjoyed spending time in his woodworking shop making grandfather clocks and gifts for his family. He loved spending summers at the family cottage in Western, NY, where he spent hours of fun driving the boat, pulling skiers, and attempting to knock kids off the tube!
Surviving with his wife are his children Bill of Brighton, CO; Cindy (Bill) Fate of Lafayette, IN; Susan (Michael) Barker of Laramie, WY; Dan (Audette) of Rossville, IN. He was blessed with grandchildren Clayton (Sam) Taylor and Stephen (Christy) Taylor of Columbus, OH; Kevin (Rayna) Barker, Denise Barker, Karen (Joe) Marr, and Daniel (Liberty) Barker of Wyoming; Jacob, David, Sarah, Katie, and Karie Taylor of Rossville, Indiana; and 6 great-grandchildren. Also surviving are his brothers David (Leena) Taylor of Broomfield, CO; Donald (Sally) Taylor of Ames, IA; and sister-in-law Sylvi Taylor of Gettysburg, PA.
Bob was preceded in death by his parents Clayton and Annie (Clark) Taylor and his brother Philip J. Taylor of Lawtons, NY.
Larry Jonathan Held
1949-2018
Dr. Larry J. Held, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wyoming, and long-time member of both the AAEA and WAEA, passed away on June 28, 2018 after battling a long illness. Larry was born on September 19, 1949 in Devils Lake, North Dakota and grew up on his family farm near Rock Lake, North Dakota.
Larry’s passion for production agriculture led him to pursue and obtain both his B.S. and M.S. in Agricultural Economics at North Dakota State University. Larry accepted an assistantship to pursue his doctoral work with Dr. Glenn Helmers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln after receiving his M.S. in 1973.
Upon completion of his PhD in 1977, Dr. Held accepted a teaching and research position at the University of Wyoming in what was then the Department of Agricultural Economics. His position responsibilities focused on the area of Farm and Ranch Management. Dr. Held’s research examined the economics of sustainable integrated livestock and cropping systems, precision farming, decision-making under risk and uncertainty, and factors affecting costs of production. His methods largely used enterprise budgets, simulation and mathematical programming, including some of the early works published in the literature utilizing MOTAD and target MOTAD. His research appeared in many of the regional agricultural economics journals, as well as in the Journal of Production Agriculture, the Agronomy Journal, Journal of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, and was the subject of numerous extension and experiment station bulletins. Larry was known for his ability to conduct interdisciplinary research with agronomists, agricultural engineers, and weed scientists. He was the “go-to” person for many of the other production scientists in the UW College of Agriculture when designing and analyzing interdisciplinary research related to the economics of alternative cropping and weed management strategies.
During his career he taught Farm and Ranch Business Records, Farm and Ranch Management, Advanced Farm and Ranch Management, and Agricultural Finance. His teaching style and willingness to help students garnered him multiple teaching awards. He received both college and university level teaching awards, as well as the Western Agricultural Economics Association undergraduate teaching award and the USDA NASULGC Excellence in Land Grant College and University Teaching Award. Larry also received the Gamma Sigma Delta Award of Merit and is listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.
Larry provided a model for other faculty to emulate when it came to mentoring students. His open door policy and willingness to listen to students with a patient father-like quality garnered him the respect and devotion of countless graduate and undergraduate students during his 34-year tenure at UW. Year-after-year Larry delighted in communicating and meeting with past students, and many of his former students sought him out when they were in Laramie. It was common to find in his office a new card, letter or picture of a recent child from a past student. His connections created lasting memories for alumni, and produced loyalties amongst current and past students regarding Larry, the department, UW, and agricultural economics as a discipline. Farewell Dr. Held.