Emil Rovey
Emil on the Glendale Farm in 1948
Glendale- Maricopa County
Inducted in 2008
The Rovey family's roots originated in Illinois, where a young farmer, Albert Rovey, married a German immigrant, Minnie Hartmann. The family faced a significant challenge when Minnie was diagnosed with tuberculosis shortly after the birth of their twin sons in 1912. On her doctor's advice, Albert and Minnie boarded a train to Phoenix, leaving their boys behind with relatives. Despite this separation and the sale of their farm's animals and equipment, the family's resilience shone through. Minnie spent the winter in the warm Arizona sunshine and regained her health. The following spring, Albert's parents carried the nine-month-old twins on the train to Phoenix to rejoin their parents.
Albert's father purchased 80 acres on the northeast corner of Bethany Home Road and what is now 19th Avenue and later deeded the farm to his son Albert. This is where Emil Rovey was born on February 16, 1916, and they continued to farm until 1951. Emil's father, only 36 years old, died in 1921, leaving five-year-old Emil with his mother, his three brothers, a younger sister, and the hired hand to keep the farm operating. They milked the cows by hand, hauled their milk to the creamery in 10-gallon cans, and cultivated their crops with teams of horses and mules.
Emil Rovey's dedication to the land was not just a profession but a way of life. His connection to the land was profound, shaping his identity and actions. This deep love for the land was likely inherited from his German grandfather, whose motto, "Grow more corn, to feed more pigs, to buy more land, to grow more corn..." became Emil's philosophy.
Emil followed his twin brothers to Washington School. Because he and his parents spoke German in their home, he had to repeat first grade, as he could not speak English well enough to advance with his classmates. By third grade, Emil attended Zion Lutheran School. He and the twins took the horse and buggy six miles to school, sometimes leaving milk at the Central Avenue Dairy. The horse was tethered in a little barn at the school until the return trip home at the end of the day.
Emil's graduation from Glendale High School in 1934 marked the beginning of his academic journey in agriculture. Despite the economic challenges of the Great Depression, he chose to do a fifth year of postgraduate work at Glendale High, a decision that would shape his future. His involvement in the Future Farmers of America (FFA), livestock judging team, public speaking contest, and citrus judging team, along with the guidance of Voc-Ag teacher A. Mark Bliss, paved the way for his acceptance into the College of Agriculture at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
In 1937, Emil, his younger brother Carl, and other financially strapped agriculture students got together. He rented a house, bought and built furniture, hired a cook, and started the cooperative Aggie House,. Each of his children followed in his footsteps, going to the University of Arizona, and the boys all took turns living in the Aggie House.
Emil graduated with high distinction from the College of Agriculture. He was a member of Alpha Zeta, the honorary agricultural fraternity, and Phi Kappa Phi, the honorary scholastic society. After graduation, he was hired by the University of Arizona Extension Service to become the State 4-H Club Leader. He traveled the state, meeting and encouraging young people, volunteers, and 4-H faculty to "Make the Best Better." He remained in that position for four years.
In 1941, Emil married Helen Louise Beck, whom he met while attending the Lutheran church in Tucson. In 1943, Emil bought a 145-acre farm in Glendale. He always said, "We moved in the front door, and the seller went out the back. That night, we started milking cows." Emil was always a hands-on farmer, doing whatever was needed—irrigating, milking cows, driving tractors, going to town for parts, ordering water, paying employees, or scraping lanes after it had rained.
Emil's life centered on three pillars: his church, family, and farm. He was a steadfast member of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Glendale, and his commitment to his family was unwavering. He raised nine children with his wife Helen, instilling in them the same values of hard work and dedication that he embodied.
Emil loved the land and its bounties. He liked seeing cattle in the corrals; he smiled at the water running evenly between the borders irrigating an alfalfa field; he took pride in seeing young cotton plants or corn emerge from the brown earth. His children, riding with their father in his pickup, often wished that he would keep his eyes on the lane in front of the truck rather than admiring the fields beside them. Emil continued acquiring nearby farmland as it became available throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.
He was a lifelong member of the Glendale-Peoria Farm Bureau and a director for the Southwest Producers and Consumers Cooperative. His agricultural interests were broad. He helped organize the Co-op Dairy, a group of milk producers who later merged into the United Dairymen of Arizona in 1964. He was president of the American Dairy Association of Arizona from 1952 to 1959.
As if more than crop production and dairying were needed, he entered the poultry business in the 1950s. He took Helen's few chickens in the backyard and grew them into a poultry operation with 24,000 hens at its peak. He served as president of the Central Arizona Poultry Association.
In 1957, he added ranching to his resume when he bought three ranches in the Bloody Basin area. He ranched the area for 16 years but sold it not long after his son, Dan, was killed in an accident while hauling cattle from the ranch to the Glendale farm, just weeks before Dan was to graduate from Glendale High School.
Emil was honored by Future Farmers of America as the Man of the Year in Arizona Agriculture in 1958. The same year, he was elected to the Salt River Project Council and continued to serve on the SRP Council and Board of Directors until his death.
With all his accomplishments, Emil was most proud of his long-standing friendship with international students from Scandinavia. That all started in 1954 when two Danish brothers knocked on his office door looking for work. During the next 30 years, approximately 200 international students found employment at Rovey's farm to learn American farming methods. The majority of the students came from Denmark, so many in fact that there is a Rovey Society in Denmark, where alums get together, have picnics, and talk farming.
Following Helen's death in 1982, Emil married Ruth Block Haertel, a widow and longtime friend. They enjoyed traveling in this country and abroad for 15 years. Their trips took them to Denmark and the Scandinavian countries to visit their "Danish boys."
An accomplished photographer, Emil's lifelong interest in taking pictures has provided the Rovey family with a treasury of photographic reminders of their rich family history, traditions, and heritage.
A big man with a big heart and ready smile, Emil M. Rovey, 82, died peacefully on July 25, 1998, while taking an afternoon nap at the family home on Northern Avenue.
Affiliations
Glendale-Peoria Farm Bureau
Southwest Producers and Consumer Cooperative-Director
United Dairymen of Arizona
American Dairy Association of Arizona-President (1952-1959)
FFA Man of the Year in Arizona Agriculture-1958
Salt River Project Council-Director (1958-1998)
