EIF-A_Lasting Contributions

OCTOGENARIAN FARMERS
“One thing about
Dad is he’s always
got a way to
do things. Like
MacGyver.”
— SUSAN SHEETS
to grow corn, oats, and hay, and had quite a
few hogs and cattle. But they no longer have
the livestock, and they now rent out all of the
pasture and crops.
“I’m lazy now,” Schnoor said.
“That’s not really the case,” said Sheets.
“He’s anything but lazy.”
‘Til the very end
Farmers connect themselves to their land,
their farm, and their home, according to Martin.
“Giving that up is more difficult than, say,
retiring from a job as an engineer,” he said.
“Home has a special meaning for farmers.”
Farming, in a traditional sense, is a family
enterprise, and many older farmers may want to
“age in place” at the farm where they grew up
and took over from their parents.
“It is only when functional problems, such
as vision, mobility, and hearing, turn up that
it may not be feasible to stay in the home,”
Martin said.
Schnoor says he will continue working at the
farm until he is unable to.
“I like to have something to do,” he said.
“But I’m slowing down. I’m just tired.”
“He does pretty good for 89, that’s for sure!”
Sheet said. “If my husband and I did everything
he does in one day, we would be tired, too!”
When the Schnoors move on, the farm will
go to their four daughters.
“All of us want to keep it in the family,”
Sheets said. “We want to keep it as it is and
maintain it.”
Behn does not like entertaining the idea of
becoming unable to work in the fields.
“If you love what you’re doing, it’s not
work,” she said. “What am I going to do when
I’m homebound – read? Watch TV? I have so
much energy I don’t know what to do with it.
I’m so active, I never get tired.”
Behn says the secret to staying active is
being active.
“Darwin’s never going to quit either,” she
said.
“I grew up with it,” Darwin said. “Once you
grow up with this life, you don’t want to do
anything else.” n
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