3-time Butler Farm Show Eagle Bowl winners value family, perseverance
The Dean family, of Ro-Ann Haven Farm, are no strangers to hard work.
From the peaceful front porch of her home, Peggy Dean said she and her late husband, George Dean, moved onto their picturesque dairy farm on Chicora Road 44 years ago. Since then, they have built quite a name for themselves in the community and at the Butler Farm Show every year.
According to the family, it’s truly a group effort.
“Michael does most of the milking,” said Angela Burke of her brother, Michael Dean.
“Mom does all of the book work,” Michael added. She also orders what is necessary to keep the farm running.
As for Angela, Michael said she keeps busy feeding the animals and hauling manure, and she also takes care of general repair work.
Although there are upsides and downsides to going into business with family, he said one of his favorite parts is “having the kids around.”
“Being able to be with your family doing something is a good thing,” he said.
“I like the sense that — since this is all we have ever known — you just get to be around the farm life and family all the time,” Burke said. “You get to learn things together and enjoy it together.”
“There’s plenty to do, so it keeps everyone out of trouble,” Peggy said, earning a laugh from her children. She said the family respects the values and morals of being a part of the business. These values have been passed on to Angela’s children, Kylie and Mitchell Burke, who are 20 and 17, respectively. Kylie attends Butler County Community College for nursing, and Mitchell works in a tire shop.
One of the most important values it’s taught them, according to Michael, is perseverance.
“You can’t just quit because you have a bad day,” he said, “or even a bad week or year.”
“You work to get what you need or what you want,” Burke added, “Everything shouldn’t just be handed to you or given to you. Hard work and dedication pays off.”
“You have to love what you’re doing,” Peggy said.
Angela and her husband, Randy Burke, have a beef cattle farm of their own that they run with his family, along with some grain. Their time is split between both.
“Everybody is always busy,” Angela said.
“That’s where the ‘staying out of trouble’ comes in,” Randy jested. Though it always seems like there’s more to do than there is time, and there never seems to be an even balance between it all, Angela said everybody works to help and get things done every day, no matter the task.
Randy also has another job, which throws more into the mix of the two farms.
When they aren’t hard at work, they prioritize family meals for quality time and, above all, attending church together every Sunday.
“Our faith is what has gotten us through all the highs and lows, along with family and friends,” Angela said. She said the most important relationship to have, for them, is the one they have with God.
Even with all of his responsibilities at home, Michael is the music director at their church.
After all of the work and preparation, the Deans are gearing up for the Butler Farm Show this year — as always.
“We got our entries in,” Peggy said, “so that was the first step.”
“We’re working on getting the animals ready,” Michael said, “getting them cleaned up, taught how to lead, and be presentable.”
Angela said she can’t remember not being involved with the farm show at any point in her life, a sentiment echoed by the rest of her family.
Randy and Mitchell participate in the tractor-pull, and Kylie was named the 2023-24 Butler County Alternate Dairy Princess after participating in a pageant, and will have various duties to perform throughout the duration of the farm show.
“It’s like another family for me out there,” Angela said, “I love how the farm show really just stays true to the depiction of the agriculture and what it means and the value of family life. The people are just wonderful. I just really enjoy being there.”
“You compete against them, but they’re your friends,” Peggy said.
“Everybody is so caring and concerned with each other,” Angela said. “They’re always willing to help each other out and never bat an eye. It doesn’t matter. If somebody needs something, they drop what they’re doing and go help somebody else.”
The three-time Eagle Bowl-winning family is looking forward to that friendly competition with their peers again this year, as they’re headed into their first farm show without their beloved patriarch, George, who died in November.
“He absolutely loved the farm show, and was so dedicated to the farm show, the directors and volunteers,” Angela said of her father, who spent 39 years as a 4-H leader and 41 years as a farm show director.
“He was very adamant about everybody working together to make that farm show be the best it could be … He loved helping the adults, he loved helping the kids.”
Angela recalled that before last year’s farm show was even over, George Dean already had his eye on 2023, as it’s the 75th year for the much-anticipated event. Michael has taken his father’s mantle as a farm show director this year.
“He was already telling us what he wanted the decorations to look like,” she said, “so we’re going to do the best that we can to make that happen, because it was important to him.”
“Everybody was included,” Peggy said, “he never excluded anyone from anything. Everybody, to him, was one big family.
“Dairy people are very supportive. We’ve had a couple of other dairy farmers that have passed away too, and everybody is just a part of that solid community.”
“We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him, and his dedication and passion,” Angela said.
