Distinguished Autauga County farmer and businessman Milton “Buzz” A. Wendland is being remembered as a trailblazer for agriculture within the state, a behind-the-scenes supporter of his neighborhood and a loving household man.
He died at his Autaugaville residence March 11. He was 91.
The previous Air Drive pilot led Autauga Farming Firm by means of a interval of enlargement to turn into one of many largest companies of its sort within the state. It’s a diversified operation rising row crops and timber and elevating cattle. Wendland additionally had different enterprise pursuits; proudly owning John Deere tractor and agriculture tools sellers together with Yamaha and Honda motorbike and ATV dealerships.
He served as president of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Affiliation, President of the Alabama 4-H basis, Chairman of the Alabama Board of Agriculture and Industries and head of different native and state organizations. He was additionally the patriarch of a giant farming household in Autaugaville.
“Buzz Wendland was a nice, nice man, he actually, actually was,” mentioned retired Autauga County Sheriff Herbie Johnson. “We’ll by no means understand how many individuals he helped. He was simply that method. He was at all times prepared to assist folks and the neighborhood, however he didn’t need any of the eye.
“We’ve misplaced a large oak tree. And once you lookup and see that huge tree is gone, you discover.”
Wendland was born in Peach Grove, Kansas, to a farming household. It was a driving snowstorm, household lore goes, and docs and midwives couldn’t make it to the house. He was delivered by his father, Milton Ludwig Wendland. He went to a one-room faculty close to the farm, and graduated as salutatorian from Randolph Excessive Faculty in 1950. He attended Kansas State College the place he received a bachelors diploma in animal husbandry. Throughout school he labored within the KSU school of agriculture’s dairy barns to assist pay for his training.
He was a member of ROTC and commissioned as a 1st lieutenant and accomplished pilot coaching within the Air Drive at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas. He obtained his wings and received orders to go away for Korea. Earlier than going abroad, he determined to take go away and drive residence for a number of days go to.
On the outskirts of San Antonio he was concerned in a severe head-on crash, and he underwent medical remedy for the following 14 months.
Destiny stepped in and he was transferred to Maxwell AFB for extra surgical procedure and remedy. It was there he met Diane Smith of Prattville. She was an American Crimson Cross employee on the base hospital. It began as a friendship, a romance developed they usually received married.
Wendland finally regained flight standing however left the Air Drive in 1959 then went into farming in Autaugaville.
“Mr. Wendland was a visionary chief who left a long-lasting legacy on Alabama agriculture,” mentioned Alabama Farmers Federation President Jimmy Parnell. “As a younger farmer in neighboring Chilton County, I noticed firsthand the affect he made on his farm and the trade as a complete. Below Mr. Wendland’s management, Autauga Farming Firm turned acknowledged as one of many state’s best and modern farms.
“He additionally helped begin the Autauga High quality Cotton Affiliation and Producers Feeder Cattle Sale to assist farmers get higher costs for his or her merchandise. As we speak, Mr. Wendland’s youngsters and grandchildren are carrying on his legacy by means of their work in agriculture each on and off the farm.”
For all his enterprise success, it was household that was his precedence. Buzz and Diane had been married for nearly 61 years. She died about 5 years in the past.
He’s survived by 4 youngsters and their households. He additionally served as a deacon and elder at Prattville’s First Presbyterian Church.
He stayed energetic within the farming operations proper up till his final days. Andy Wendland remembers considered one of his common drives across the farm along with his dad to examine operations about two weeks earlier than his demise.
“He made solutions, generally robust solutions, that’s how he was,” Andy Wendland mentioned with fun. “We handed a pasture and he needed to understand how lengthy the heifers had been within the pasture. ‘It seems tight in there, it’s possible you’ll need to transfer them,’ he mentioned.
“And we moved them.”
Wendland supported his neighborhood, however by no means sought accolades. Within the early Nineties the farm donated land and funding for what would turn into the William Howard Smith Agricultural Middle on Freeway 14 in Autaugaville. That’s a brief distance from the farm’s headquarters. The concept was to maneuver all of the federal and state farming and forestry group workplaces from Prattville and put them in a single place. Later, the R.H. Kirkpatrick Agricultural Area was constructed behind the middle.
“Autaugaville wouldn’t be what we’re with out Buzz and Miss Diane’s help over all these years,” mentioned Mayor Curtis Stoudemire. “They had been at all times keen to assist, however by no means sought any reward or consideration. I see the identical factor of their youngsters and grandchildren, that want to be servant leaders.
“The legacy of Buzz Wendland is in good arms.”
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
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