Why I Give to FarmHouse Foundation

William S. May (OK '38) was a pillar of FarmHouse Fraternity and Foundation. He was well known for his service and financial contributions of significant dimension to FarmHouse Foundation, individual chapters and society.

Bill graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1940 with a degree in ag economics with minors in animal husbandry and agronomy. During college he served as FarmHouse chapter president and as junior class president. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.96 GPA and a number of honors. His first job with that organization started in 1940 in Tahlequah, OK. He began as secretary-treasurer and loan correspondent for the Tahlequah National Farm Loan Association.

In 1942, World War II interrupted May's career for 3 ½ years while he served in the Navy. He attained the rank of lieutenant senior grade and earned four combat decorations serving as gunnery officer on the USS Brock in the South Pacific.

He returned to the Land Bank and the Oklahoma-Kansas area as an appraiser. In 1954, he was promoted to associate chief of appraisal with the Farm Credit Administration in Washington, D.C. Three years later, he returned to the Federal Land Bank of Wichita as vice president in charge of loans and appraisals. He was president of the Federal Land Bank of Wichita from 1976 to 1981, ending a 39-year career with the Federal Land Bank system.

Bill was the first member of the Foundation's Century Club, donating over $100,000 to the Foundation. He is the recipient of the Master Builder of Men Award, the Fraternity's highest honor, and the 1999 Philanthropy Laureate. He and his wife, Catherine, have endowed the William S. and Catherine May Scholarship Fund, which continue to provide the largest sum of academic scholarships open to all chapters. The endowment awards $1,500 per year to five undergraduate or graduate members.

He also endowed scholarships in agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University, Kansas State University, New Mexico State University and Colorado State University. The May Scholarship Endowment is one of the Foundation's six endowment funds of more than $100,000 each.

Bill died June 28, 2002 after a long battle with cancer. His generosity to FarmHouse has been tremendous. For FarmHouse, William Sterling May was everything his middle name invokes. He was a "Second Founder" if ever there was one.

He was asked in the fall of 2001 about his participation as a donor of the FarmHouse Foundation, which he has supported for many years.

Although a native of Iowa, I grew up a farm boy in Oklahoma during the Great Depression and drought of the 1930s. My initiation in FarmHouse in 1938 has proven to be one of the most influencing and enriching events of both my personal life and my career.

Like many farm youth at that I arrived on the campus of Oklahoma A&M College with nothing but a suitcase, $20.00, and with absolutely no other source of funds, looking for a job for my total support. My 4-H club agent, whom I learned years later was a FarmHouse man, urged me to go to school-- and he would "help me find a job."

The very first day I was given a half time job for 20 hours a week at 25 cents an hour as a student secretary in the office of the Dean (Lipport Ellis, WI '21). Following my very successful and rewarding freshman year, Dean Ellis urged me to pledge FarmHouse Fraternity by increasing my pay a nickel to 30 cents an hour. This total income of $24.00 a month barely paid my house bills, enrollment fees, books and a clean shirt for Sunday school of 400 young men at First Baptist Church, taught by Dr. Henry G. Bennett, President of the University. The class president was a FarmHouse man.

I moved into FarmHouse my sophomore year and found myself associated with the very top student achievers on the campus. There the basic principles were taught and followed as prescribed in Luke 2:52, on which D. Howard Doane and the other founders established FarmHouse Fraternity at Missouri in 1905. Many of my professors were outstanding FarmHouse men with doctorates from the leading corn belt universities.

I was a student in one of the first classes taught by young Hilton Briggs, IA '33, fresh from his Cornell doctorate. Hilton and I were both in our twenties. I was drawn to him by his keen intellect, aggressive teaching, and his interest in and support of FarmHouse principles. He became my life-long mentor and inspiration for these past 63 years. We are both in our late 80s-bosom FH friends and continuing dedicated supporters of the FarmHouse principles through our contributions of our material substance, our enthusiasm and our influence. My association with FarmHouse and its products in leadership positions has molded my life. And that's what this message is about.

There is an old adage out in our ranch country that when a man wears the brand he fights for it, is loyal to it and supports it faithfully. I have proudly worn the FarmHouse brand for some 65 years and am dedicated and committed to support it through the Foundation. FH has the finest directors and board members we could possibly assemble. Our staff and leaders have a vision for FarmHouse to achieve a multi-million dollar foundation endowment designed to continue and expand our leadership seminars for chapter officers and advisers, assist in chapter house improvement, provide the latest communication facilities, scholarships and related activities, to take FarmHouse into this exciting and challenging new century. Truly we have no alternative.

I am a little dubious about the impression that only the "well-to-do" are involved. Readers may erroneously think that long-established donors are wealthy-although I am aware that in the short term the Foundation needs some very large gifts. Sometimes "little donors become big donors over time."

I urge every FarmHouse man to hop on the bandwagon as it forges ahead. Jump on board now ya'll; do ya hear!!!