Doran: Remembering a great Illinoisan

A fringe benefit of spending the last 45-plus years in the newspapers business is the amazing people that I’ve been blessed to have met.

I’ve had the honor to meet national, state and local political leaders, company CEOs, researchers, teachers, students, coaches — I covered a lot of sports back in the day — the 5,000-acre farmers, the 10-acre farmers and a whole bunch of other folks from all walks of life.

Meeting them enriched my life, and I will always be grateful for those opportunities.

I’ve been reflecting on this since I learned the other day of the passing of Gordon “Gordy” Ropp, 87, of rural Normal, Illinois.

I first had the honor of meeting Gordy in 1974, when he was serving as the Illinois agriculture director.

I was in high school working for the Dwight Star & Herald and was assigned to cover a visit of some potential corn buyers from Hong Kong to Hamilton Grain in Campus, Illinois. This is a frequent occurrence today, but very rare back then.

Gordy in his role as ag director was at the front line in promoting Illinois-grown products to international buyers and really set the groundwork for the agency’s marketing efforts.

It was a watershed year for Illinois and the nation in terms of agricultural exports. U.S. agricultural exports increased from $12.9 billion in 1973 to $21.32 billion in 1974.

Gordy was very gracious to this high school kid still learning the ropes of the newspaper business.

During his four years leading the state agriculture department, Gordy also began the centennial farm program, initiated the development of an infrared soybean tester to measure oil content and worked to eradicate hog cholera, a major threat to Illinois’ swine industry.

He went on to serve as state representative from 1979 to 1993 and served on many House committees, including agriculture, higher education, appropriations, executive and public utilities.

But there was so much more to his life beyond being a respected state leader.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2007, when I was putting together a story on the 90th anniversary of the Silverleaf Let’s Go Ag and Silverleaf 4-H Club in McLean County, an organization that Gordy spent more than 60 years as a leader. As a youngster, he was a member of the club showing his prized jersey cows.

I met him at his farm just north of Normal, and we sat for a long chat at his kitchen table talking about the 4-H Club he loved so much. He had brought out numerous photos of the club from over the years and talked about the organization’s milestone.

I remember asking him if it was the oldest 4-H club in Illinois.

“I always say it’s the oldest in the world because no one has shown us proof otherwise,” he answered with a big grin.

Sitting at the kitchen table talking 4-H and a myriad of other topics, including a little politics, was one of those special moments that I will always remember.

I did mention to Gordy about the first time I met him at the Campus grain elevator. I’m sure he didn’t remember the geeky kid with the large format Koni-Omega camera and Singer flash — with battery pack hanging from my side — but he did recall the tour with the prospective corn buyers from Hong Kong.

There was much more to Gordy besides his public service to the state and long-time dedication to 4-H.

He married Roberta Cutter in 1955, and they had three children, Diana, Darren and David. Roberta passed away in 1997, and his son, David, passed away in 2013.

He graduated from Normal Community High School as valedictorian of his class and went on to the University of Illinois, graduating in 1955. During college, Gordy received his commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the ROTC program and was a member of the Farm House Fraternity.

He returned to the family farm, raising anywhere from 40 to 100 Jersey cattle at a time. He and his family also raised grain crops for cow feed.

In addition to working the family farm, Gordy was employed by Funk Seed Co. as a young man. He remained active in the agricultural community, getting selected as a delegate to the Illinois Agricultural Association Convention by the McLean County Farm Bureau in 1960, at the age of 27.

Around this time, he was also state director of the American Dairy Association of Illinois, secretary-treasurer of the Illinois Jersey Cattle Club Association, president of the Dairy Herd Improvement Association of McLean County, served on the executive committee of the American Dairy Association and captain in the National Guard.

At the end of his tenure as state ag director, Gordy returned to the Ropp Dairy Grain Farm. He remained actively involved in a variety of associations, committees and volunteer programs for a few years before deciding to run for the Illinois House.

After his time as a state representative, he served as the rural affairs liaison to the secretary of state. It was in this position that he spent his last 10 years before retirement, connecting rural organizations and businesses with the Secretary of State’s Office and speaking before civic groups.

Retiring in 2002, Gordy was still very active in the community. He worked as a Unit 5 substitute teacher and volunteered his time with a variety of organizations and clubs, including 4-H, Shriners, Masons, the David Davis Mansion Foundation, Normal Rotary, Timeless Clovers and local Barn Quilters.

He was a very special person who dedicated his life to the agriculture industry and youth development, and I’m very fortunate to have known him.