Howard Warren Lydic
Peoria - Maricopa County
Inducted in 2012
Howard W. Lydic, a beacon of resilience, was born in the rural community of Moorefield, Nebraska, on July 5, 1915. He was the fourth of five children born to Edward Oliver and Susanna Viola Lydic. The family had rented the Woolum Farm. Howard was born in the old farmhouse. Despite the difficult times, his parents worked tirelessly to make ends meet. Edward supplemented his farming income by working as a blacksmith and fireman for the railroad, a testament to the family's unwavering spirit.
A combination of factors saw the family packing up and moving to Arizona by train in April 1918. For health reasons, Howard's older sister Ruth needed a dry climate in which to live. In addition, Edward and Susanna wanted their children to attend the Christian school at Weedville where the family lived, a community at what is now 75th Avenue and Thunderbird Road. Their transportation during those years was a buggy and an old mare named Daisy.
Edward went to work at Oscar Jennings' Garage and Blacksmith Shop in Peoria (now. Wilhelm's) as a blacksmith. On January 10, 1919, the family purchased their first Arizona property, 20 acres on the northeast corner of R Avenue and Lateral 21, now 83d Avenue and Thunderbird Road. They built a frame house there later that same year. Edward grew alfalfa and continued to work as a blacksmith to support his family.
In 1921, Howard started first grade. Every school day, he walked the two-and-a-half miles to and from Peoria Elementary School by himself, crossing Grand Avenue. At that time, Peoria Elementary was a four-room schoolhouse with a small gym in the middle. It burned down in 1926. A bright student, Howard skipped third grade and graduated in seven years. When he started high school in 1928, Peoria High had just formed a chapter of the Future Farmers of America. Howard, showing his early interest in farming, joined and was active for the next two and a half years, becoming part of the 1930 livestock judging team. The team took first place in the State judging competition and was awarded a trip to Kansas City to compete at the American Royal Livestock Show.
The trip to Kansas City was a significant achievement for Howard, especially considering his challenges during high school. The trip was paid for by the Santa Fe Railroad, which sponsors the winning stock judging team from Arizona each year. The team comprised Howard Lydic, Shorty (Horace) Smith, Lawrence Cook, and Oliver Smith. However, the following January, Howard had to drop out of high school due to depression, a challenge he bravely faced and overcame.
1930 was a busy year for the Lydic family. In addition to Howard's trip to Kansas City, they got their first tractor, an International Farmall. Howard's grandfather, Millard Johnson, bought an 80-acre tract of land on the west side of 83rd Avenue. Howard did custom work for his grandparents, parents, and neighbors, making $1.50 an acre to plow fields. Irrigating, raising chickens, feeding, and milking the cows were all part of a day's work. The Lydics raised and sold cotton, alfalfa, cattle, chickens, and eggs.
In September 1933, Howard returned to Peoria High School. He got special permission from the principal, Mr. Jantzen, to take extra classes so he could do three semesters of work in one year. Because FFA was a two-hour block, he could not take agriculture classes during his senior year, but he was able to continue his involvement with sports. He was the football team's quarterback and lettered in football, basketball, baseball, and track.
Howard continued to do custom work for neighbors and farm the family fields after he graduated in May of 1934. In 1941, he bought his first piece of land. It was an 80-acre parcel on the northwest corner of Thunderbird Road and 83rd Avenue, which he purchased from Ernie Davis. Not long afterward, Howant began hearing bells. Wedding bells announced his marriage to Ruth, daughter of Williams K. and Laura G. Fond, on April 7, 1043. The couple's only child, Betty Rena, was born in 1946. That year, he bought the River Place. With the help of his father and grandfather, Howard turned the desert into productive farmland. The land was later sold and now is home to the Plaza Del Rio Banner Medical Campus.
Times were good for farmers after WWI, and Howard bought more land in several places around Peoria. Government programs helped the farmers, and Howard could level his fields and put in concrete ditches. By then, he and Ruth owned over 600 acres and were leasing other parcels on which they grew cotton, alfalfa, wheat, barley, maize, watermelons, cantaloupes, potatoes, onions, corn, and lettuce.
In 1953, Howard and seven neighbors and friends formed Cotton Commodities, a partnership with Chickasha Cotton Oil Company in Oklahoma. They bought 20 acres on the corner of 83 Avenue and Northern, where they built and operated Hy-White Gin. Later, they built Pima Gin on the same property. The gins closed, and the land was sold in 1998.
In 1961, Howard hired his nephew Harold Lydic as his foreman to help with the farm responsibilities. Harold was an essential part of the farm operation and allowed Howard to spend more time working on other projects.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Lyle Wright and his family started helping Howard with his cattle. With Lyle's help, he developed a herd of cattle bought and shown at the fairs by all the Wright children, Howard's grandson, Shawn Teters, and many other Peoria’s FFA and 4H members. Trudy Wright and Shawn Teters won a Reserve Grand Championship with their Lydic calves. Trudy also won a Grand Championship one year. In the 1980s, Rena joined her dad in the family farming business.
Howard retired in late 1991. He leased the farm to Bruce Baskett, but Bruce later moved to Arkansas, and Kevin Johnson leased the farm. Even though responsible young farmers were working the land, Howard loved to visit every day to check on the crops. Ruth passed away in 1998, and the home was sold in 2005.
Affiliations
Hy-White Gin - Owner and Director
Pima Gin - Director
Salt River Project - Board of Directors - 4 ½ Years, and Council - 20 Years.
Sun Health - Board Member
Peoria Church of the Nazarene - Board Member
Arizona Farm Bureau - Board Member and State Board
Glendale/Peoria Farm Bureau - President
Cotton Commodities - Vice President
National FFA Alumni Association - Life Member
Awards
Peoria Pioneers, Peoria Arizona Historical Society, 1997
Peoria High School Hall of Fame, 1997
