[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 11, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H10199-H10200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO H.C. ``LADD'' HITCH JR.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr. Lucas] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, it is with a solemn heart that I 
rise today to share with my colleagues the passing of H.C. ``Ladd'' 
Hitch of Guymon, OK.
  A pioneer cattleman and prominent Oklahoma Panhandle businessman, 
Ladd was truly a remarkable man who left an indelible mark on his 
community, his State, and his industry. He was the third-generation 
patriarch of a family that settled and prospered in what once was 
called our Nation's ``No Man's Land.'' The fact that a thriving 
agricultural economy has developed on this once barren land is a 
testament to his family's frontier spirit.
  The Hitch's settled in the Oklahoma Panhandle in 1884. Ladd was born 
in 1918 and by the time he reached adulthood, he and his family had 
revolutionized production agriculture in the region. As the Hitch 
legacy in the region grew, the family's visionary business practices 
never waned. They introduced one of the first irrigation systems in the 
Panhandle region. This innovation supplied the ability to produce an 
abundant feed supply and led to the establishment in 1953 of one of the 
Southwest's first large-scale cattle feedlot operations. Last year, the 
National Cattleman's Association listed Hitch Enterprises as the ninth 
largest cattle feeding operation in the country.
  Mr. Hitch was one of the founding members of the Oklahoma Cattleman's 
Association, was the first recipient of the National Cattleman of the 
Year Award, was named ``Feedlot Magazine's Commercial Feeder of the 
Year,'' and was selected as a ``Stockman of the Century.'' His 
activities were not just limited to agriculture. During his life, he 
served as the chairman of the Board

[[Page H10200]]

of Regents of Oklahoma State University, was the former director of the 
University of Oklahoma Research Center, was a member of the Oklahoma 
Medical Research Foundation, and had been a trustee of the National 
Cowboy Hall of Fame.
  As a cow calf operator from western Oklahoma, a former member of the 
Oklahoma State Legislature, and now a member of the U.S. House of 
Representatives, I had the opportunity to deal with Ladd Hitch on many 
different issues both business and legislative. He was a man of 
integrity, drive, and vision. Ladd died on July 29, 1996, while 
attending the Oklahoma State Cattleman's Association in Oklahoma City 
at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. The site of his death memorializes 
many of the greatest aspects of life. Ladd will be missed.

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