Arizona Farming – Ranching Hall of Fame
Honorees for 2010

James “Jimmy” Accomazzo

James Mark “Jimmy” Accomazzo was born in Arizona. He credited his father for instilling in him a good work ethic. Growing up he was treated like an adult; driving tractors, combines, pickups and caterpillars from the time he was 12 years old. His mother was a great supporter of FFA and encouraged him to take an active role in Tolleson High School’s program. He served as FFA Chapter president, FFA State Association vice president and earned the State Farmer Degree. In 1971 Jimmy purchased the land in Tolleson his family still farms. In 1972 he married Jacquilyn Carol Trotter and moved into a mobile home on the property. In the beginning the Accomazzo’s grew cotton, switching to hay when cotton was not longer a profitable crop. By 1993 Jimmy had 2500 acres of owned and leased land planted in rotating crops of cotton, alfalfa, small grains and silage.

FFA continued to have a part in his life throughout the years. He encouraged Jacque to become involved and both of their sons, Mark and Scott, actively participated. Jimmy initiated the scholarship program at Tolleson Union High School.

Jimmy Accomazzo served his community in many ways, among them being appointed to the Riparian Area Advisory Committee by Governor Fife Symington in 1992 and an appointment to the Estrella Joint Planning Committee by then Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard in 1986. He belonged to the Cowman’s Club of Phoenix; was a sustaining member of the Sheriff’s Mountain Posse of Maricopa County and sponsored and coached Little League Baseball.

Pete Brawley

It was a long trip from Tishomingo, Oklahoma to Duncan, Arizona for a five year old in 1935but Norman “Pete” Brawley’s family made it as part of the exodus immortalized in John Steinbeck’snovel Grapes of Wrath. Car trouble and a jackrabbit were responsible for the family settling in the southern Arizona community. They stopped at Duncan because of problems with the car. They stayed because Pete’s father spotted a jackrabbit that nobody was after and thought. “This is the place.”

Brawley graduated from Duncan High School and went to the UofA on a partial scholarship to play basketball. He stayed there one year then enrolled in Eastern Arizona College with the intention of getting his degree from that school but fate intervened. He met Loretta John, and that was the end of that. The couple married in 1950.

Pete went to work at J.C. Penney’s but when Loretta’s father offered him a chance to go to Colorado and work on his ranch Brawley jumped at it. They stayed there for ten years before returning to Arizona in 1962 at the invitation of Rex Ellsworth, a ranch owner and racehorse breeder who had ranches at Seligman, Safford, and Willcox and in New Mexico. He managed the Hackberry, the One-Hundred-Eleven, Slick Rock Ranches and for a time the Three Links Ranch near Willcox. In 1977 the Brawley’s bought the Tanque Ranch which bordered the Hackberry, which he leased from Mr. Ellsworth heirs after his death.

Throughout the years Pete Brawley has been an innovator in erosion management, using his cattle as a tool to help control the problem. Pete Brawley has been recognized by federal, state and local agencies for his work. He has served the agricultural community with his tireless work on boards, committees and commissions at the local, state and national level.

Ray Cowden

Ray Cowden was born on August 28, 1891 in Springfield, Missouri, the youngest son of James Steel and Sarah Elizabeth Wallis Cowden.

Around 1910 James came to Arizona and acquired a large farm from John Mudersbach, an associate of the Babbitt Brothers in Flagstaff, where he raised cattle and alfalfa. Ray’s brother Claude made the move west a little later, establishing a livestock operation known as the Glendale Cattle Company and helping his father on the farm.

The year 1912 was significant in the Cowden’s lives. Arizona became a State, with Murdersbach’s help Claude negotiated an agreement with the Babbitt Brothers to winter their cattle in the Valley -- and was diagnosed with tuberculosis. His long-term prognosis was not good so Ray was contacted and asked to come to Arizona to help Claude and his father with their farming and livestock operations. The two brothers went into the cattle business under the name of Cowden Brothers. The arrangement with the Babbitts also continued, first as Babbitt and Cowden Brothers and then Babbitt and Cowden Livestock Company. After Claude’s death in late 1917 Ray continued the operation on his own, leasing the Cashion Ranch and Nichols Ranches west of Phoenix.

Ray was active in the community serving on the boards of Valley National Bank, Arizona Public Service and on the board of SRP. He was a supporter of 4-H clubs and the FFA and a significant contributor to John C. Lincoln Hospital. The Cowen Center at JC Lincoln, Sunnyslope, is named for him. A great believer in education, Ray provided support to NAU, ASU and UofA.

Ray Cowden died following a stoke he suffered in the early 1980s.

SARAH MARGE “WINK” CRIGLER

Sarah Marge “Wink” Crigler traces her ranching heritage back to her great grandfather John Butler who bought the Cross X (now the X Diamond Ranch) in the South Fork Canyon of the little Colorado in 1886.

The Butlers were always concerned about the safety of the forest. They built a fire lookout tower that was manned for a time by Molly’s two sons. In addition, John and Molly were part of a group that found the Arizona Game Protection Association, the forerunner of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Since assuming control of the ranch in 1980 Wink has added a new dimension to the operation. Under her management the ranch is surviving as a cattle operation and much more. Working with state and federal agencies and the University of Arizona she has helped to develop and promote modern ranching practices. To educate children and adults about the important role of ranching she created The Little House Museum on the property with artifacts, documents and photos depicting Arizona’s ranching history.

Although still a working cattle ranch, Wink has built cabins where fishermen and others can come to enjoy the beauty of the White Mountains and take advantage of horseback riding, tours or just taking in the serenity of the area. A meeting center provides a place for ranchers, regulators and scholars to meet to discuss range management and other topics of importance.

PAUL FELIX

Paul Felix’s father and grandmother came to the Arizona Territory and settled in what is now Pinal County in about 1876, after Jesus’ father was killed by Revolutionaries in Mexico. They settle along the Gila River and he began to farm and raise cattle. Jesus dug dirt irrigation ditches from the river to bring water to his crops, a practice that was emulated by other settlers in the area. As the area grew the farmers recognized the need for an organized system of water managing. They negotiated with the government to form the San Carlos Irrigation and Drainage System, a system that is still in use today.

When Arizona gained statehood Jesus bought the land he was farming from the government. In approximately 1927 he moved to a house in Florence and divided the property among his four sons. There were no schools in Florence at that time so he donated land on which to build the Walker Butte Elementary School. In the beginning the family supplied the teachers for the school because the County didn’t have one available.

Paul still lives n the farm. His roots go deep into the soil, both from his heritage and from his many years with the USDA Soil Conservation Service. Much of the land leveled in Pinal County and many of the water saving practices in the area are a part of the Felix legacy.

FRANKLIN “JAKE” FLAKE

Franklin “Jake” Flake was a cowboy/rancher who served the agricultural community and the people of Arizona throughout his lifetime. Raised in the White Mountains, he worked on the family ranch in Snowflake, a community named for the Snow and Flake families. In 1970 Flake became a member of the board of directors of the Arizona Farm Bureau. In 1997 he was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives where he served for eight years, holding the position of Speaker of the House during the 2003-2004 term. Restricted by term limits, in 2004 he ran for and was elected to the Arizona State Senate where he served until his death in June of 2008.

During his tenure in office Flake worked on numerous agricultural related issues including those involving State Trust Lands, property and water rights, forest management reform and community college funding.

He is survived by his wife Mary Louise and 12 of their 13 children.

JOHN AND BOBBIE KERR

John and Bobbie Kerr took over John’s father’s small dairy in Kyrene soon after they married in the early 1950s. They added purebred Cheviot, Dorset and Shropshire sheep to the farm and soon found themselves serving as the sheep and dairy goat department superintendents at the Arizona State Fair. John’s reputation grew as a goat consultant as did the demand for his services as a sheep judge at stock shows across the country.

The Kerrs were part of a group of milk producers called the Arizona Dairy League. By the late ‘50s some of the group’s members decided the organization should be expanded into a marketing co-op and the United Dairymen of Arizona (UDA) came into being. John was a member of the original board of directors, a position in which he served for the next 36 years.

The Kerrs moved their dairy operation to Buckeye in the early 1970s. The family business is now in its fifth generation.

NORMAN McCLELLAND

Norman McClelland’s Shamrock Farm is the largest family owned and operated dairy in the Southwest and is the number one milk processor and distributor in the region.

The McClelland family epitomizes the American dream. An Irish immigrant, Norman’s father William Thomas McClelland came to Tucson from County Down and went to work as a hand on the Triple C Ranch in Oracle. In 1920 he married Winifred “Winnie” Parker, his sweetheart from County Down. The story is told that couple founded the Shamrock Dairy in Tucson in 1922 with 20 Guernsey cows, a Model T truck and a dream.

Norman and his Shamrock Farms management team continue to be recognized in the dairy industry. In 1993 Shamrock Food was listed among Forbes Magazine’s Top 400 private companies in the United States for the first time.

One of Norman’s passions is teaching upcoming generations about the importance of agriculture. The company ran farm tours at the dairy in Tucson for some twenty years and has continued the practice at the farm in Maricopa where they also have a museum.

Shamrock Foods is a community oriented organization donating 80,000 pounds of food to local food banks each month, in addition to working with 80 to 100 non-profit organizations every year.

CHARLES ROBSON

Charles Robson loved bees and he loved Arizona. He was a beekeeper, innovator of bee keeping products and an author of a book documenting his own experience in the industry.

He had a family heritage of bee keeping dating back to the early 1900s. His Aunt Jeanette Robson and A.H. (Bud) Kenson were beekeepers but young Robson wanted more. Never content to just raise bees, he was an innovator and an inventor. In the 1960s he developed the first pollen collector. Later he built a propolis collector. Through the years he obtained over 20 patents on agricultural related products.

In the early 1980s he formed a relationship with Rex Maughan. Rex was developing a business called Aloe Vera of America and became Robson’s major client, consuming 94 percent of his product. When Maughan wanted to buy the entire business Robson sold it to him and became associated with him for the next few years. When the contract was satisfied Robson took back the bee part of the business and became a supplier for Maughan’s Forever Living Products.

Foreign markets are difficult to break into, especially Japan and Germany, but because of the high standards adhered to by Robson and his operation, the company was able to find their niche.

In the 1980s Robson acquired an old mining claim and little house near Aguila. He and Jeri spent years developing a Western town called Robson’s Mining World to help preserve some of Arizona’s mining history.

RICHARD “DICK” UDALL

Richard “Dick” Udall was born in Eagar, Arizona, the product of two of Arizona’s pioneering agricultural families: the Udalls and the Laytons. His father, Karl G. Udall, owned the Flying Box Ranch, which Richard eventually purchased from the family. He began his business career in 1953 after eloping with Myrna Burk at the age of 18. His first entrepreneurial endeavor was a service station, heating oil and propane business. He later leased those businesses to go into ranching fulltime.

Udall was an active member of the Apache County Farm Bureau and the Arizona Cattle Growers Association in addition to serving as president and on the board of the Round Valley Water Users Association, a board on which his father had also served. He was involved in helping to develop the water delivery infrastructure from the Greer Lakes and the Little Colorado River to the communities of Greer and Springerville.

Always community minded Udall served as the Chairman of the local Apache Natural Resources Conservation District and was a member of the Farmers Home Administration. He was the chairman of the County Committee of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS), appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture during the Reagan and Bush Administrations.

Dick and Myrna served for 23 year as representatives of the U of A’s Council of Agriculture Research Extension and Teaching (CARET), making many trips to Washington D.C. to lobby for Arizona agriculture.