Gary Sharp, was another of our classmates — like Nancy Wendy, Roger Warfield, Gwen Ryman, Alan Peck, Linda Peck and others —who lived on a farm just outside of town. His father's place was five miles east and was known as Sharp's Dairy Cattle.
Graduating from Central was the biggest challenge facing Gary in those days. Gary was thinking more about 4H than English class. Gary says Willard Ellis told him, "Your time in 4H and traveling probably gives you a better education than missing two days of school anyway."
His long career in 4H culminated in being South Dakota 4H president in 1965.
"I met a lot of people, and to this day I have a lot of friends throughout South Dakota whom I met through 4H," Gary says. Those friends include his wife, Donna, who he met as a teen attending a conference in Brookings. They later reconnected during a college Block and Bridle meeting at SDSU.
SDSU named Sharp an Eminent Farmer/Rancher in 2014. He is a member of SD Farmers Union, SD Cattlemen's Association, and the state and national Holstein Association. In 1997 the Sharp family received the South Dakota Outstanding 4H Family of the Year and in 2002, Gary was awarded the Northeast South Dakota Agri-business of the Year.
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