Shirley Kirkpatrick earns Lifetime Service Award

During a varied and distinguished career, Shirley Kirkpatrick has consistently worked for the betterment of agriculture in Tulare County and the greater Central Valley. In recognition of her more than 60 years of service, the California Farm Bureau Federation presented Kirkpatrick with the Helen Roberti Lifetime Service Award during the CFBF Annual Meeting in Garden Grove last week.

In nominating her for the award, the Tulare County Farm Bureau said Kirkpatrick has "successfully paired her passion for writing with her devotion to agriculture." During her 16 years with the Tulare County Farm Bureau, Kirkpatrick edited the county Farm Bureau newspaper, and later contributed articles to a number of agricultural publications.

In accepting the award, Kirkpatrick said she was "deeply appreciative."

"I fell in love with this organization in 1953," she said, citing her participation in a leadership conference for young people which, she said, "spurred me on to serve agriculture."

Kirkpatrick and her husband grow citrus fruit in Exeter and were involved in the formation of the grower organization California Citrus Mutual. She also has served as an officer of the Tulare County Cattlemen's Association and worked as a home advisor for the county 4-H program. For 25 years, Kirkpatrick served on the Tulare County Planning Commission, where she advocated for responsible land development and conservation of productive farmland.

"Shirley Kirkpatrick embodies the term 'lifetime service,'" CFBF President Paul Wenger said. "She became involved with the Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee while in college, and held both statewide and national offices in YF&R. Ever since, she has been a leader whose dedication to farming and ranching has benefited the entire agricultural community."

Named for the longtime manager of the Plumas-Sierra County Farm Bureau and presented for the first time in 2013, the Helen Roberti Lifetime Service Award recognizes dedicated service by a staff member of a county Farm Bureau in California or of CFBF.