Destined for distinction: OSU Alumni Association honors rancher and conservationist
Friday, December 13, 2024
Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu
Growing up on a ranch in the rough, desert country of Pecos County, Texas, N. Malone Mitchell Jr. was no stranger to the value of hard work.
He credits his parents for instilling strong values and work ethic in him during his childhood.
“Ranching is what I did as a youth, and it is what I always wanted to do,” Mitchell said. “I am still doing it — just ranching — taking care of the livestock and the land.”
At 4 years old, Mitchell began helping around his family’s ranch on horseback. The family raised Polled Hereford cattle, Rambouillet sheep, and Angora and Spanish goats.
The ranch is where his passion for agriculture and sheep began, he said.
When the time came to go to college, Mitchell was inspired to attend Oklahoma State University by two former animal science department heads and livestock judging coaches: Albert “Al” Darlow and Glen Bratcher.
“Dr. Darlow was an outstanding lamb judge,” Mitchell said. “His integrity, honesty and actions convinced me this was the place I needed to be.
“By the same token, Bratcher’s integrity and honesty and what was being taught at OSU and in animal science are what I wanted when I came here,” he added.
Robert Totusek, another former animal science department head, also influenced Mitchell’s development at OSU, said Malone Mitchell III, oldest child of Mitchell Jr.
“I could have gone anywhere I wanted to,” Mitchell Jr. said. “I looked at Texas A&M, Texas Tech, even as far away as Cornell.”
Mitchell Jr. enrolled in animal husbandry courses at OSU in 1957.
His freshman class was the first impacted by the official name change from Oklahoma A&M College to Oklahoma State University.
“Basically, I am an original Cowboy,” Mitchell Jr. said.
During his time in college, Mitchell Jr. took a broad range of courses, including agricultural engineering, business law, botany and swine science.
“I have got over 150 solid hours on my résumé,” he said. “I have 15 hours of chemistry. Why? I don’t know, but I’ve got it.”
All of the basic courses Mitchell Jr. took contributed to him setting state records for volume of dryland soybean bushels produced per acre and bermudagrass pounds per acre in Oklahoma. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry in 1963.
While at OSU, Mitchell Jr. was involved in Block and Bridle, a national organization promoting animal agriculture, and was vice president of the OSU Flying Aggies, the student organization for aviation.
Mitchell Jr. became interested in flying at 10 years old and obtained his pilot’s license in 1958.
His love for flying led him to meet Roberta “Bobbe” Ellison, his wife of 64 years, he said.
The pair met in the fall of 1959 when Mitchell Jr. was at the Stillwater Regional Airport.
“It was one of those dreary days like you have sometimes in the fall in Oklahoma,” Mitchell Jr. said. “I walked into the airport office, and there was a young lady sitting there doing math on the calculator.”
He looked at the problems upside down and was able to do the math quicker in his head than she could type into the calculator, Mitchell III said.
“That made an impression on her,” Mitchell III said. “I think if you asked him, he would probably say the greatest thing he got from Oklahoma State was my mother.”
The couple dated for nine months before getting married Aug. 25, 1960.
“Without Bobbe’s persistence and guidance, and frankly, doing the work, I would have never graduated college,” Mitchell Jr. said.
Together, the couple has traveled to all 50 states and to six continents.
They have three children: Malone III, Scott and Stacey. They have eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
The Mitchell family has produced three generations of proud OSU alumni, Mitchell III said.
“We have been through thick and thin, hot and cold, wet and dry,” Mitchell Jr. said. “We have been together a long, long time.”
Mitchell Jr. resides with his wife in Sanderson, Texas, on one of two Mitchell Ranches.
The other ranch is in Durant, Oklahoma, which Mitchell Jr. began purchasing in 1965. The ranch includes eight agricultural operations, and Mitchell Jr. describes it as “the biggest agricultural producer south of I-40 and east of I-35.”
Mitchell Jr.’s interest has always been in tending to the land and trying to produce a better outcome for all, Mitchell III said.
“Dad is always reading on ways to improve yield or the equipment you are using to increase productivity,” Mitchell III said. “He was always very involved in working animals in a humane and gentle way.”
In addition to being a rancher, Mitchell Jr. has a passion for conservation. He has served on the Rio Grande/Pecos River Soil Conservation Board for 60 years and as a chairman for 45 years. Mitchell Jr. recalled his “famous” personal quote that sums up his idea of agriculture: “Whether you call it soil, dirt or whatever … that’s the beginning of all agriculture.”
His involvement with the board inspired him to donate to the New Frontiers campaign to fund a new soil research laboratory.
“If you haven’t been by there, or it is not in your field, I encourage you to stop by there,” Mitchell Jr. said. The lab is not Mitchell Jr.’s first contribution to the Ferguson College of Agriculture.
In 2021, he established the N. Malone and Roberta Mitchell Jr. Family Endowed Scholarship for animal science students employed at the OSU Sheep and Goat Center who plan to return to a commercial operation after graduation.
“It’s the love of sheep and the respect for people who take care of them that enticed me to fund a scholarship in the sheep and goat division,” Mitchell Jr. said.
Regan Smithwick, animal science junior, received the Mitchell’s scholarship for 2024-2025.
Smithwick met and bonded with Mitchell Jr. over their shared passion for agriculture and the sheep industry and growing up in small Texas towns, she said.
“He is an agriculturalist to the highest degree in the way that he cares for God’s creations, whether it be the land, livestock or people,” Smithwick said.
In the fall, Mitchell Jr. was honored as a 2024 Alumni of Distinction by the OSU Alumni Association.
He was looking at buying some steers when he received a telephone call from OSU President Kayse Shrum, he said. He shared the story during the award presentation Aug. 30, 2024.
“She told me I had been selected for this very prestigious award,” Mitchell Jr. said. “She told me I needed to be here tonight. And I said, ‘I don’t know about that.’ But, I’m here.”
Mitchell Jr. expressed deep gratitude for being selected as a 2024 distinguished alumnus.
“The only way I know how, from the bottom of my heart, is to say, ‘Thank you, and may God bless,’” he said.
Story by Amanda Hurst | Cowboy Journal