 Kenneth E. Vaughn, 73, of Statesville, passed away, Monday, June 27, 2011 at Iredell Memorial Hospital in Statesville.
Mr. Vaughn was born July 15, 1937 in Reidsville, NC and was the son of the late John D. Vaughn and Lucy Page Vaughn. He was a graduate of Caswell County, NC Schools, and he graduated from N.C. State University in 1959 with a B.S. in Dairy Science. He received his Master of Agriculture in 1973 with a major in Dairy Science and a minor in Adult Education and completed the Extension Executive Development Institute from 1983-1984.
After college he served as a livestock specialist with All-Star Mills in Albermarle, NC for 3 years. He then began his career with the N.C. Extension Service in April of 1962 in Caldwell County as an agricultural extension agent. After working there for 2 years, he moved to Chatham County in 1964 where he worked for 11 years as an agricultural extension agent. In 1975, Ken was asked to be County Director of the Iredell County extension service- a position he held until his death. He has been with extension for 48 years and is recognized as being one of the best dairy and livestock men in NC.
His leadership role extended into his community as well. Ken served on the County Commissioners Steering Committee for Iredell County's Strategic Plan and on the Advisory Committee for the Statesville-Iredell Civic Center. He was instrumental in planning the present Iredell Agriculture Service Building. He was often called on to host various meetings for the county and region. Numerous government, association and commercial meetings were hosted in Statesville by Ken.
He was known throughout the state for his many different roles -always handled with great efficiency. He was superintendent of the dairy show at the NC State Fair for years and also chairman of N.C. Black and White Holstein sale. He was treasurer for the N.C. Holstein Association and contributed his time and efforts to the NC Brown Swiss Breeders Assoc., the NC Guernsey Breeders Assoc. and the NC Jersey Breeders Assoc. Ken judged numerous cow shows across the US and was a part-time classifier of Brown Swiss. Dairymen Inc. called on him to help select the winner of their Young Dairyman Contest. He served as an advisor to the dairy program at NC State University and was on the Dairy Task Force for extension's Long Range Plan. He was an advisor for extension on 4-H competition policies, an advisor to the South Central DHIA (Diary Herd Improvement Assoc.), on the DHIA restructuring committee and the advisory committee for the NCSU Farm Business Records program. Other organizations that benefited from his participation are the NC Farm Bureau, the United Farmer Org., The NC Cattlemen's Assoc., the American Dairy Science Assoc. and the American Society of Animal Science.
Ken also made significant contributions to youth programs. For 32 consecutive years he trained a 4-H dairy judging team for state competition. Five of those teams were state champions. One of his past team members won first place individual honors in the national contest. Many past students value him as a superb advisor and teacher. Ken served as chairman of the steering committee for the Southwest District Junior Dairy Show, which is the largest one in the state. He was also one of the founders of the NC Dairy Youth Foundation, which has enabled many of the youth programs to continue and flourish in the state despite hard economic times. He served on their board and as treasurer.
Ken has been a treasure to the NC dairy industry and his community. His efforts have made a difference too many dairy producers, farmers, 4-Hers and citizens of NC.
Memorials may be made to the NC Dairy Youth Foundation, Campus Box 7645, Raleigh, NC 27695-7645, NC 4-H Development Foundation, Attn: Sharon Rowland and Hospice and Palliative Care of Iredell County, 2347 Simonton Rd., Statesville, NC 28625. Online condolences may be sent to the Vaughn Family at www.nicholsonfunerals.com
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