W.T Gladden
Buckeye - Maricopa County
Inducted in 2025
William Thomas Gladden. known professionally as “W.T.” and “T” by family and friends, has embodied a life of service in agriculture. W.T.’s parents, James E. “Ned” and Castelle Gladden, came to Arizona from Oklahoma in 1927 to work on an uncle’s farm in Marana and later, in 1944, began their small dairy farm in Chandler. They had four children. W.T. was their oldest son. In 1955, the family moved out to the West Valley, where they purchased a160 160-acre farm on Highway 80 west of Cashion. That same year, W.T. began farming with his father. They grew cotton alfalfa and had a dairy.
Farming from his earliest days, running a team of horses, cutting and raking hay from 11 years old to today, at 89 years old, still serving as the President of the Buckeye Water and Conservation Drainage District. W.T. has spent a lifetime in agriculture. His career in farming continued to grow as the family sold the Cashion farm and dairy and moved their headquarters from Cashion further west to Buckeye, farming in Buckeye, Goodyear, Palo Verde, Harquahala, and Paloma, farming 9000 acres at the height of his career.
W.T. has grown various crops, from alfalfa, corn, safflower, sorghum, and wheat, but is a true cotton farmer. He farmed cotton for 45 years. In 1985, his nephew Dan Gladden joined the family operation. In the late 1990s, seeing the changing times, W.T., his wife, Nicole, and Dan made a significant change and returned to the dairy industry. Saddle Mountain Dairy was established in 1999 in Palo Verde. W.T., Dan, and Dan’s two sons, Josh and Clint, dairy and farm the home place on the Hassayampa River, two other locations in Palo Verde, and a farm in Gila Bend.
W.T. has consistently recognized the importance of agriculture and water's critical role. He has nearly forty years of service on the irrigation boards of the districts he has farmed. He remains on the front lines, maintaining and protecting water rights. W.T. has made many trips to Washington D.C. and spent hours meeting with legislators at the Arizona state capital to protect agricultural water. He has partnered with a fellow farmer, Ron Rayno, on water issues. Noel Carter, General Manager of Buckeye Water Conservation and Drainage District, shared that W.T. has been a selfless representative of the district's constituents and the agricultural community across the state. W.T.’s empathy and charismatic demeanor are exemplary characteristics that continue to lead the district to a successful future. This unwavering commitment has significantly improved beneficial water policy, with his most recent work being on SB1081. If you have a question about water rights and the history of those rights, W.T. is the person to go to!
W.T. will tell you his accomplishments in this life are due to his faith in God and his beautiful wife, Nikki. They have been married 65 years and raised two amazing daughters, Kerry Pretzer and Kathy Dougherty. Nikki stood firm by his side through the ups and downs that a a career in agriculture can hold.
Affiliations
Air Force Reserves
Harquahala Cotton Gin
Harquahala Irrigation District
Buckeye Water and Conservation Drainage District
Arizona Cotton Growers
