Tom Brown had more than a few friends.
In a special “Celebration of Life Final Harvest” event, family and friends gathered from all over the area to honor the West Liberty farmer who died at age 63 following an accident near Tipton Country Club on July 7.
Friends and family showed up Friday morning, Oct. 25, by the dozens. They brought more than enough agricultural equipment to harvest the 189 remaining acres on a farm launched in 1846 by the great, great grandfather pioneer of Jessica Schroeder.
Schroeder is the daughter and only child of Tom and Diana Brown, and put together a community harvest on land now owned by Jim Birkett, but farmed by the Browns.
Starting the day with a burrito breakfast sponsored by GPC (Grain Processing Corp. of Muscatine), Schroeder gathered those in attendance for a group picture before a background of about 10 combines, at least 10 grain wagons pulled by red and green tractors as well as at least 15 semi grain-hauling trucks.
She honored her father’s community farm legacy, and told about sitting with her mom, who was also in the accident, at University of Iowa Hospitals trying to figure out how they were going to handle the harvest, and manage the farm that has been in the Brown name since Iowa became a state.
Schroeder, of Urbandale, moved away 20 years ago to earn a dietician degree at Iowa State University.
“My dad knew all of you for some reason,” she said, noting people and business associates were more than willing to help her in a situation that involved farming 1,500 acres of land, including the 328 acres on the family farm located just west of West Liberty on U.S. Route 6.
She praised a few key people who helped her on the mission of learning to farm. “I grew up on the farm, but didn’t really know much about farming,” she said, proud of the business her parents had built over nearly 40 years of marriage.
She said a big part of putting together the harvest today were guys like neighbors Mike and Ryan Deahr, who were like family before and after the accident, saying she will be forever grateful for their guidance during a tough period in her life.
She thanked Andy Buysse of ASAP in West Liberty, who just two days after the accident had a list of every contact and resource she would need. “He helped me with fungicides and . . . all my questions,” she said.
She also pointed out Mike Lemkau, a family friend she remembered cheering her on the prep basketball courts as a Comet. Schroeder said her dad would have been really proud of each and every one who helped and continue to help her through the career change.
Her daughter, Zoey, got the machinery rolling by taking the megaphone and saying, “Farmers, start your combines!”
Schroeder called the event, “truly a celebration of life,” in particularly for her mom and the family, who planned to celebrate that evening with friends in the Brown farm home.
Schroeder said the family never really got a chance to celebrate her dad’s life because “we had all this ahead of us,” talking about the harvest that was held on grounds about three miles down Route 6. Her mom watched the funeral on July 19 via Zoom from her hospital bed and has been in and out of the hospital four times since the accident, nearly dying twice from internal injuries.
“Everybody wanted to help after Tom passed,” Diana Brown said of the outpouring of support, noting her husband was well connected in the community, a graduate of West Liberty High School, where he was involved in FFA and 4-H while having notable achievements in wrestling and track. He was a member of the West Liberty Lions Club, First Church United, Muscatine County Pork Producers and Farm Bureau.
“I’ve been a bubbling wreck all day,” she said, pointing out the community “showed the love and respect they have for our family,” with the harvest show.
Now was the “perfect time to celebrate,” Schroeder said, proud to have her mom able to attend the final harvest. She said the rain the previous night hadn’t dropped the moisture some areas had on this particular field, noting her dad might have had something to do with that from the heavens.
Although her mom was unable to get into a combine to help with the harvest, Jessica did, saying it was “awesome to be able to do that, even if it was just for a short time.” It brought her back to special memories of even a year ago when she’d spend time in the combine harvesting with her dad. “We’d talk for hours,” she said, tears swelling up in her eyes.
Schroeder said she was suddenly wrapped into the family farming business and said the Brown farm will continue, even though it may be rented land next year. “Who knows, maybe I’ll be a farmer someday,” she said.
Tom Brown’s sister, Karen Spears of Sheldon, Iowa, called the day “amazing and emotional,” noting her brother’s passion was farming, especially grain crops, after getting into the pork producing business for many years as well.
Spears was impressed with the numbers of friends that showed up for the final harvest, noting Brown loved his community and “loved family farming.”
It took about four hours to harvest the last acres of field, hauled to the three places including the family farm before a prime rib sandwich lunch was provided by the local Case implement dealership, JJ Nichting Company, grilled on the site by the Muscatine County Cattlemen.
Kirk Anderson of Anderson Sugar Tree Farms in Clarence said he used to wrestle with Brown in high school and has been a long-time friend. He provided a semi truck to help with the harvest, noting he would meet Brown in various places throughout his life and “he was always nice.”
“It’s amazing how people came together to get this crop out,” Schroeder said, noting it was the last of hundreds of acres harvested by friends and family on at least four different properties throughout Muscatine County.
Neighbor Ron Lehman says Tom was always a fun guy to visit and called him a “fantastic” person. “Every time we talked, he would always leave us both laughing about something,” he said.
That’s just the kind of guy Tom Brown was, those participating said – friendly with everyone and it came to life Friday. “He had to be smiling looking down on this,” one person said.