Vinson family recognized as Ag Family of the Year, an extra special memoriam for couple

Long-awaited was the recognition bestowed upon the recipients of the Taylor County Extension Agency and Abilene Chamber of Commerce's Agriculture Family of the Year Award.

J.W. “Dub” and Monteva “Monty” Vinson have had their hands in many projects around Abilene. Whether it was running laundromats or the feed store, they found ways to connect with community and make advances in Big Country agriculture.

This year’s award is especially significant with the passing of Dub on January 20, 2023.

Valentine’s Day 70 years ago…

The story begins when then-oilfield worker Dub walked into the drugstore to buy candies for a girl on Valentine’s Day 1953.

“I had already met him at the skating rink a couple of, three or four, days prior to that. So, he came to where I was working to buy this candy for another girl and asked me to go out with him,” Monty said.

She was, of course, hesitant at first and asked about the other girl Dub was buying candy for.

He responded, “She doesn’t count.”

And that was the start of it. Dub picked up Monty from the drugstore after her nightly shift, and she eventually agreed to go out with him. Smitten, it seems, Dub would come and sit next to Monty while she was at work.

“One night he said, ‘I sure do like you,’ and I said, ‘Well fine. I don’t really know you,’” Monty said.

One thing led to another, and the couple was married by June that same year.

A country businessman

A year or so after getting married, the couple had their first son Lanny. It was a joy short lived however as Dub was drafted to the Army and spent the next two years in Korea.

When he returned, Dub added more jobs to his plate to help his young family’s finances.

He went back to the oilfield for a short time, joined the Abilene Fire Department, and in the meantime, we worked cleaning houses and building fences, Monty said.

While employed as a firefighter, they got into the coin-operated laundromat and carwash business. The venture proved successful with a fast-growing network of locations across Abilene.

The upward growth in business presented the family an opportunity to get back to Dub’s roots. He bought a farm south of town much to his family’s surprise.

“My grandfather was a farmer. When dad left and graduated high school, he said he’d never go back to the farm. Didn’t want anything to do with the farm,” Lanny said.

Monty grew up in the country and wanted to have a piece of land for the boys. Dub found a house with land in Tuscola and found a way to get Monty her dream home.

“One day he said, ‘Well, I found a way to pay for that house. I made the deal. Start packing!’” Monty exclaimed.

The deal was a trade. A family home in the city for a country farmland property.

“We had a van loaded in Abilene and a van loaded in Tuscola, and we just passed each other on the road and settled in,” she said.

During the summers, Lanny and his brother Randy would run tractors and bale hay. To Lanny, the farm felt like another one of dad’s projects.

Fertilizing the agricultural climate in Abilene

The 1970s gas shortage brought about rising prices in farming materials and yet another challenge for the family.

Dub decided to throw his hat into the fertilizer business to help local farmers. And he did not stop there.

The Vinsons bought Farm & Ranch Supply and Abilene Grain in the late 1970s. The feed store and downtown Abilene grain elevator expanded its services to better serve Big Country farmers and ranchers.

“They just kept getting more and more involved in agriculture, and then at some point he eventually just backed away from the laundry business and started concentrating just on feed, seed and fertilizer,” Lanny said.

Dad wanted to create a bigger footprint as far as fertilizer, he continued.

Dub built liquid and dry fertilizer tanks, a seed plant, a feed mill and more grain elevators to keep up with storage demand and clientele needs.

Since establishing the business now known as Abilene Ag Services & Supply in 1979, the Vinsons diversified their services to help their customers with all their needs.

Along with two retail locations selling gardening, ranching and pet supplies, services currently offered include custom fertilizer blending and application, crop consulting, seed cleaning and soil sample analysis.

Many family members asked themselves over the years how Dub kept so many irons in the fire.

“He did have a lot of good people that helped. He had some really good, not just employees, but good friends,” Lanny said.

Fostering community

Not only did Dub and Monty expand agricultural advancement in the Big Country, but they also remained involved in local boards and committees.

Dub served on the Board and as Chairman of the Taylor County Expo helping with the West Texas Fair and Rodeo, the Taylor County Ag Committee and the Tuscola and Security State Bank Boards.

He helped establish the calf scramble program at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo.

He was awarded the 2011 Outstanding Conservation Farmer by the Middle Clear Fork Soil and Water Conservation District and the 2003 “Man of the Year” award by Texas County Ag Agents Association.

Dub’s service did not stem from the need for recognition, however. The family recounts his kindness and desire to help the farmers.

“He would help them drag in their trucks, air up their tires, go get license plates for them,” Monty said.

“He would sell fertilizer on credit until farmers got harvest done,” Lanny said.

“We’ve heard a lot of stories about that working here. Lots of stories,” Dub and Monty’s granddaughter Mary Katherine said.

Grandson Ross recalls the times his grandfather would take people out to eat after a hard day’s work.

“He would always make a point to take whoever was around out to dinner at Joe Allen’s,” Ross said. “It didn’t matter if he made money, lost money, he wanted to get everybody together, and he was good at that.”

Monty and some of the other employees’ wives would gather and share meals together at the old grain elevator downtown, now located by Front Porch Coffee, like “one big ole family.”

“I had a little old cookshack on North Second where I’d make supper for all the farmers and hands. Sometimes homeless people would come in and have a meal. I thought they were customers or workers,” Monty said. “One day, I asked Dub, ‘Well, when did you hire that man?’ and he said, ‘What man?’”

The family’s homestyle vibes welcomed anyone to come and have a cup of coffee or sweet tea, slice of watermelon or homemade ice cream.

Recognizing a great pair

The 2024 Ag Family of the Year Award is especially meaningful to the Vinson family.

“The reason that we are doing this after dad’s passing is because he didn’t want to do this. Every time it came up, he said he wanted nothing to do with it,” Lanny said in regard to being nominated numerous times before.

Mary Katherine commented her Poppy would be “so mad right now,” and the family laughed in agreement.

Lanny wanted his parents to accept this award because he felt it was well deserved and it gives them the opportunity to share their story.

“You can start with nothing, and you can work hard, save your money and invest in things you believe in, and over a period of time, you can accumulate something,” he said.

Monty and Dub only had a high school education, but they were able to use the knowledge and resources available to them to pursue their passions.

“They didn’t need a college education to be successful. They just needed an opportunity,” Lanny said.

Dub was always looking for ways to make things better, whether it was introducing new wheat varieties or finding new techniques to better fertilize crops and keep weeds under control.

“I think that there was a point in his life where he really connected and wanted to try and help farmers and ranchers,” Lanny said. “He was tough, but he really had a soft side to him. He wanted people to do well.”

Through everything, Monty was by Dub’s side. They built a life, community and company through determination and hard work.

“I think the award just shows what he did and she did over the past 60 years. It just speaks for itself,” Ross said.

Ross shared a funny memory of when his grandfather was being honored at the Taylor County Expo Center.

“We had to lie to him and tell him we were just taking him to the rodeo, and they put him in a wagon and drove him around the expo center. I thought he was going to kill us,” Ross said.

“He was not a happy camper,” Monty said with a laugh.

Hence why the family decided to accept the award after Dub’s passing.

Living the Vinson legacy

Not only were the Vinsons nominated numerous times before, in 2023 they had been chosen unanimously by the committee to be honored at this year’s Texas Farm, Ranch & Wildlife Expo.

Lanny said over the years, Dad ruffled feathers and was not expecting the result of the committee’s vote.

“This really meant a lot to me, [the member] said he’d been counting votes for the family farm of the year award for 15 or so years, but this was the first time this had happened,” he said.

“I think, in my opinion as an outsider, it's the hard work that Dub and Monty put in to building all of this from scratch, and the impacts that they've had on agriculture here in the immediate Abilene area and the Big Country over the years. And now the legacy that the rest of the family are carrying on today into the future, that kind of, in my mind, is what sums up this award,” Steve Estes, Taylor County extension agent, said.

The two grandchildren present at the time of the Reporter-News interview spoke fondly of their grandparents, noting the pressure of maintaining the family name.

The family farm and business live on through Monty, Lanny and the grandchildren. For a couple who have contributed progress, opportunities and support to the agricultural community, it is evident that the Ag Family of the Year Award is long overdue.

“We’ve all worked together, and we don’t begrudge it either,” Monty said. “It’s been a good life.”

The couple were recognized and awarded the Taylor County Agriculture Family of the Year at the Legacy Luncheon Friday, March 1 at the Texas Farm, Ranch & Wildlife Expo.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: A long overdue recognition, Vinsons awarded Ag Family of the Year