Menu

Four Ohio agricultural leaders will be inducted into the Ohio Agricultural Council’s (OAC) Hall of Fame Aug. 8 at the Rhodes Center during the Ohio State Fair. The four – L. Eugene Byers, William James Eyssen, Jack Foust and Bill Funderburg – will be honored for their lifetime service, dedication, leadership and contributions to Ohio’s agriculture. This is the 38th annual Hall of Fame induction and will attract about 500 to honor the four men.

L. Eugene Byers

Byers, a posthumous honoree, served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1986 to 1994 serving on numerous committees to represent and champion the concerns of agriculture in the general assembly. A native of Loudonville, Byers was a purebred livestock producer raising Berkshire hogs as a youngster in 4-H and later as an adult working with beef cattle. He served on the boards of the American Shorthorn Association, the National Cattlemen’s Association and the Ohio Beef Marketing Board. A 1951 graduate of Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, professionally Byers maintained a veterinary practice in the Loudonville area and served on the boards of the Malabar Farm Foundation, American Veterinary Medical Association and the Loudonville-Perryville Local Schools.

A 4-H adviser for 10 years, Byers and his wife, Marilyn, raised four children. As a family, the Byerses were active in 4-H, FFA and church activities, being honored as Ohio’s Great American Family of the Year by the Ohio Extension Homemakers Council.

William James Eyssen

Eyssen, 77, Brunswick, owns and operates Mapleside Farms, Ohio’s largest country store and fruit market. A horticulture graduate of Ohio State University, Eyssen has distinguished himself as a leader and spokesman for the Ohio Horticulture Society, Ohio Roadside Marketing and Planning Commission and the planning committee for the Wooster Technical School, which evolved into the Agricultural Technical Institute.

In 1991, he received the Ohio Fruit Grower Society’s Distinguished Service Award and was named the Fruit Grower of the Year. Chairman of the OSU Alumni Association of Medina County, he also founded the Medina County Convention and Visitors Bureau. An accomplished musician, Eyssen has been a soloist for the First Congregational Church of Akron, appeared in many recitals with the Akron Art Museum and the Akron Music Club. He and his wife, Jane, raised six children.

Jack C. Foust

Foust, 83, Marysville, is honored as a cattle breeder and public servant. His Mayflower Farm’s Guernsey cattle excelled in the show ring and in milk and butterfat production, earning world records for milk production. His public service began as a community committeeman in 1958 with the USDA’s Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS), which is now known as the Farm Service Agency, and spanned more than 20 years and eight ASCS positions including Ohio State executive director and an appointment by then-Secretary of Agriculture Bob Bergland as Midwest Area director.

Upon his retirement from ASCS in 1980, Foust was tapped by Gov. Richard Celeste to serve in his cabinet as general manager of the Ohio Exposition Center and the Ohio State Fair, a post he held for nine years under two governors. Foust has been active in his community serving in leadership positions for the Marysville Methodist Church, chairman of the Champaign County Board of Education and chairman of the Union County Election Board. He and his wife raised five children.

Bill Funderburg

Funderburg, 65, Greenville, has chaired more than 15 state and national committees and associations in the pork industry including the Ohio Pork Improvement Association, National Swine Federation, All-Breed Coalition and the Ohio and American Yorkshire clubs. These organizations have recognized him with the National SPF Breed Award, National Yorkshire Outstanding Service Award, National Swine Improvement Federation’s Producer of the Year award and the Ohio Pork Industry Excellence Award.

In his community, he served on the school board for 16 years, the YMCA board for nine years, the township zoning board for 20 years and was a 4-H leader for 15 years.