[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13935]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING MARY ``MICKEY'' THOMAN

  Mr. ENZI. Madam President, I appreciate having this opportunity to 
share with the Senate some of the accomplishments and achievements of 
one of my constituents, Mary ``Mickey'' Thoman. Mickey will soon--and 
most deservedly--be inducted into the Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame. 
It will be another honor for her, a recognition that is fully and 
richly deserved.
  Mickey is well known for her knowledge, experience, and dedication to 
the agriculture industry of Wyoming, a sector of our economy that is so 
important it is listed on our State seal. No one knows how much we 
depend on our farmers and ranchers more than Mickey, and that is why 
she has been such a strong and effective force in the agriculture 
community of Wyoming for so many years.
  The record shows that Mickey has been tending to her family's 
ranching business and keeping everything running as it should for quite 
some time. In fact, her ranch can now boast of its status as a fifth-
generation family ranch. I have no doubt she draws her strength and her 
energy from the work she does and her heartfelt connection to her ranch 
and her family. At the wise, experienced, and youthful age of 84, 
Mickey continues to prove the wisdom of the old adage that the best way 
to lead is by example.
  Mickey's is a truly remarkable story. It begins with her marriage to 
her late husband Bill and their decision to begin ranching together in 
the Green River Valley after they were married in 1948. It is now more 
than six decades later. Through the years Mickey has seen some tough 
times and faced some difficult challenges, but she has always been able 
to handle each obstacle that tried to block her way because of her 
great love of her life as a rancher.
  Mickey is well known throughout the ranching community because of her 
ties to the industry and to those who farm and ranch for a living. That 
is why, in an effort to help the next generation of farmers and 
ranchers, she served as a 4-H leader for many years and helped to found 
the Green River Valley CattleWomen and Sweetwater County Cowbelles. 
Today, her ranch raises Hereford cattle, Rambouillet sheep, and 
thoroughbred quarter horses.
  Over the years Mickey has passed on her love of ranching and her 
commitment to the Wyoming values that made her such a success to her 
children, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren. As they 
continue to put the lessons Mickey has taught them into practice they 
will always remember that Mickey was the one who taught them how to do 
so many things on the ranch.
  When Mickey is inducted into the Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame she 
will be in good company. She will be among those who pursued their 
commitment to serving their community by working to support the growth 
and strength of our agriculture industry and our state economy. Mickey 
will fit right in because she has been an outstanding leader in that 
regard, serving with agriculture organizations and groups on both the 
State and the national level. They were fortunate she was willing to 
serve and to bring her knowledge of the industry to their work so that 
she might help them to make a difference. Over the years the 
contribution she made of her time and her talents helped to advance the 
interests of the agriculture community as she served with the Wyoming 
Stock Growers Association, the Guardians of the Grasslands, the Wyoming 
Farm Bureau, the American Quarter Horse Association, the National 
Cattlemen's Beef Association, the American Sheep Industry Association, 
Wyoming CattleWomen, and the Wyoming Woolgrowers Association. Clearly, 
Mickey has never been one to sit idle when there was work to be done.
  Mickey's upcoming induction into the Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame 
won't be the first time she has been honored for her commitment to 
ranching, farming, and our Wyoming way of life. She has also been 
recognized with the Green River Valley Ranch Woman of the Year award in 
2012, the Farm Family Today Award from the Sweetwater County Fair in 
2013, a Partnership Appreciation Award from the Wyoming Landscape 
Conservation Initiative in 2012, and, with her husband Bill, the 
Sweetwater County Ranch of Couple of the Year Award in 1988 and the 
Upper Green River Valley Cattlemen's Lifetime Honorary Member Award in 
1997.
  Mickey Thoman has shown she has what it takes to not only survive but 
to thrive in what can be a truly demanding business. Through it all, 
she has been a role model for others to learn from and an example not 
only of the best of Wyoming's traditions and values but proof of their 
power and strength. In a short while, I will be proud to join with 
Senator Barrasso as Mickey Thoman is officially inducted into the 
Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame. It is another honor she has truly 
earned with her hard work, her leadership, her friendship with so many 
members of Wyoming's agricultural community, and her active interest 
and involvement in every aspect of the industry she has been a part of 
since she and her husband first began to work their ranch more than 60 
years ago.

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