[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12643]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING JW AND THEA NUCKOLLS

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I will soon be attending the 101st 
Wyoming State Fair. During the Ag Hall of Fame Picnic, Senator Enzi and 
I will have the honor of recognizing JW and Thea Nuckolls as they are 
inducted into the Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame for 2013. I cannot 
think of two people more deserving of this recognition.
  The Nuckolls family came to Wyoming from Virginia in the early 1900s. 
JW's parents sold 100 horses in order to purchase the original ranch in 
1917. In 1943, the family entered the sheep business by purchasing 500 
head of sheep to stock the ranch. JW was only 12 years old when he 
began trailing ewes from Moorcroft, where the sheep were bought, to the 
family ranch 26 miles away.
  JW returned to the ranch after graduating from the University of 
Wyoming. He was in the market for more sheep when he met his future 
wife, Thea. He purchased part of her family's Corriedale flock. The 
future couple subsequently ran into each other again at the Wyoming 
State Fair in 1958 and were married the following year. How fitting it 
is for them to be honored together in the same place where their lives 
with one another began 55 years ago.
  Over the past five decades, JW and Thea have built a strong, 
diversified ranching operation. Thea brought registered Angus cows into 
the family and together she and JW have built herds of high quality 
cattle and sheep. Their contributions to agriculture go far beyond 
their own operation, however. JW and Thea helped to start the Mountain 
States Lamb Cooperative and Center of the Nation Wool Cooperative which 
serves 1,700 participants and markets approximately 5 million pounds of 
wool each year, resulting in gross sales of nearly $10 million. JW 
continues to serve as a board member to this day. In addition to the 
cooperative, JW has also been active in Wyoming Stock Growers 
Association, Wyoming Farm Bureau, and the Wyoming Wool Growers 
Association. Thea has served many years as a 4-H club leader, serves on 
the Wyoming Cattle Women's Association, Wyoming Wool Growers Auxiliary, 
and Crook County Farm Bureau.
  JW and Thea have been stalwart representatives of the agriculture 
industry in every way. Wyoming Stock Growers Association executive vice 
president Jim Magagna has said that the sheep industry is stronger 
because of JW and Thea's involvement. This couple embodies what Wyoming 
is all about. Honesty, integrity, and hard work are second nature to 
them. Their willingness to share their knowledge and experience with 
others ensures that the sheep industry and agriculture in general will 
continue to be strong in both Wyoming and America for years to come. I 
would like to extend my congratulations to JW and Thea and thank them 
for their dedication to the Wyoming way of life.

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