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FFA Champion
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Watkins, who now serves as chief executive officer for the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives, began his FFA involvement as a freshman at Purcell (Okla.) High School. His vocational agriculture instructor and FFA advisor was Harry Frank Jr. “Two weeks into my freshman ag class, Mr. Frank asked me to come by after class so we could get a speech written for me,” Watkins said. “I told him ‘I can’t,’ but he would not take no for an answer.” Watkins spoke about farm
and electric cooperatives and found his calling as a public speaker. After
earning state champion honors in the cooperatives prepared speech division
in 1964, he was asked to present his speech for various organizations,
including the Oklahoma Farmers Union and the OAEC.
“When I went to present my speech at the Oklahoma Farmers Union convention, I couldn’t see over the podium,” Watkins said with a grin. “I stood on two wooden Coke boxes to give my speech.” Presenting the same speech for the OAEC, Watkins earned his first paycheck: $25 to help with the expenses of traveling to the meeting. Little did he know it would not be his last OAEC paycheck. In 1979, he went to work for the association as its director of government relations, and in 1984, he advanced to his current position. “Rural people grow up caring for each other,” he said. “FFA gave me the innate understanding that you get a lot more done together than you can alone.” Teamwork is something Watkins knows well. In addition to speaking, Watkins competed as a member of Purcell FFA’s pasture and range judging team. He was the only team member to compete two years at the National Pasture and Range Contest, a contest his team won both years. “I am the only two-time
champ,” Watkins said. “They changed the rule the next year so no one can
compete after winning it.” Another unique aspect of Watkins’ FFA accomplishments was earning his Junior Master Farmer Degree in 1964, the last year before the honor became the State Farmer Degree (now the State FFA Degree). His swine, cattle and horse projects helped him earn the degree. “When I was 14, a freshman, I had my first loan to purchase three registered Guernsey heifers,” Watkins said. “It was for $334.75, and I thought I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. That was one note I was happy to tear up when it was paid off a year later.” He also showed an orphaned registered Hereford heifer; the future grand champion was a gift from Purcell department store owner, Roy Mace. “Mr. Mace made me feel like more than I was,” Watkins said. “He made a lot of difference in a boy’s life.” Watkins’ life had been modest, at best. “We only had running water when mama told me to hurry!” Watkins said. “Mom and Dad loved me, encouraged me, and taught me to work hard and care about people. We didn’t have much, but what we had was clean and useful. “FFA allowed me to step into a world we were not accustomed to,” Watkins said. “Without Mr. Frank and FFA, my world would have stayed small. You don’t forget the people who make a difference. Mr. Frank was the reason I wanted to be an ag teacher.” After an unsuccessful campaign for southwest district FFA vice president, Watkins attended Oklahoma State University to earn a bachelor of science in agricultural education. Growing up in Purcell, he said he didn’t know OSU existed until he attended the annual State FFA Interscholastics. “After I came to the contests, I knew that was where I was going,” Watkins said. “I sold everything I had to come to school.” When Watkins completed his degree in 1969, he served nearly two years in the U.S. Army, stationed at Walter Reed Institute of Research near Washington, D.C. When he came home for Christmas in 1970, the Purcell Schools superintendent asked him to “stop by.” “He wanted to hire me to teach, but I wasn’t discharged yet,” Watkins said. “The Army let me out early.” Watkins left the base Friday, Jan. 29, 1971, drove straight through to Oklahoma, and started teaching at 8 a.m. the following Monday morning. He has fond memories of his days as an agricultural education teacher. “Agricultural education
amplifies what you learn in the classroom and makes it relevant,” Watkins
said. “You give students a chance to make something of themselves. When you
show them how and why something is important, you make it relevant. That’s
the value of FFA.” While teaching at Purcell, Watkins turned his alma mater into Oklahoma’s top single teacher chapter in 1974. He taught at Purcell for five years before going to work for the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce in 1976 and then to OAEC in 1979. “I’ve never been an employer; I’m a recruiter,” Watkins said. “I go get the talent we need. We are a team. It’s amazing how much we can achieve by focusing on our mission and not caring who gets the credit.” Although Watkins said it will be hard, someday he will leave OAEC and his Oklahoma City office to work with his registered Quarter Horses and spend more time with his family: wife, Natalea; son, Burke; daughter and son-in-law, Jennifer and Michael Smith; and cowgirl granddaughters, Hope and Haileigh Smith. Whatever Watkins does, he will find ways to give to others. He has the heart of servant. In 2003, the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources honored him with the Distinguished Agriculture Alumnus Award. “You can never give enough,” Watkins said. “Our job is to help one another and that ‘primes the pump’ for us all.” A true FFA champion, Larry Watkins has made the most of his opportunities and continues helping others become future champions with memories and scrapbooks of their own. |
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The
Official FFA Scrapbook’s pages are brittle and yellowing with age, but for
Larry Watkins the memories are as vivid and clear as they were when he
organized the scrapbook more than 40 years ago.
