Retired educators and Jackrabbit alums Lon and Mary Moeller of Brookings were honored as the South Dakota State University Family of the Year by the SDSU Alumni & Foundation on Feb. 21.
They were joined by their three children, eight grandchildren (four of whom attended SDSU with another to enroll) and about 15 other family members plus work colleagues.
Lon, who taught at SDSU from 1981 to 2012, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in ag education in 1970 and 1976, respectively. Mary taught at SDSU from 2007 to 2017 after earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English in 1988 and 1993, respectively.
Their children followed in succession — Steve '94/'96, Michael '97 and Sheri '00/'04. Two of their spouses also are SDSU grads.
Moellers took different routes to State
Lon was not only the first Moeller to graduate from SDSU — he also was the first one on either side of his family to go to college. However, his family recognized his academic aptitude early on. His grandpa called him Little Professor as a young boy. Lon went on to be valedictorian of his Garretson High School class.
Being a farm boy who wanted to teach ag education, Lon didn’t need to sort through college brochures to make his selection.
Mary, on the other hand, actually started college life at Augustana. They married June 23, 1970. With Steve, Michael and Sheri arriving in 1971, 1974 and 1977, respectively, Mary stayed busy at home. By the time she returned to college part time in the early 1980s, Lon was on the faculty at SDSU.
Taking a class or two per semester, Mary flourished under “brilliant” English faculty members like Chuck Woodard, Mary Haug '92/M.S. '95 and John Taylor and teacher/mentors like Sue Hegg '95 and Becky Ekeland M.S. '99.
So, the Moeller children soaked in a lot of Jackrabbits spirit while growing up. Steve, who earned a degree in food and biological materials engineering, did consider Purdue and even went on a campus visit. He determined the program was no better than what he had seen at SDSU and opted to follow his father’s footsteps. He also received a prestigious Briggs Scholarship.
Michael followed his dad’s footsteps even closer.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in ag education and was in Army ROTC. (Lon also was in ROTC, where he was in the initial group of Coteau Rangers, and thought he would make a career of Army life. But after three years in Germany — 1970-73 — the Moellers decided they didn’t want the nomadic life that military service brings.)
Michael served four years in the Army, taught high school ag ed, farmed with his father-in-law and now teaches online ag classes at Western Iowa Tech in Sioux City, Iowa.
Sheri was a state officer in FFA, so that also made SDSU a natural college pick. With her degrees in ag ed, dairy manufacturing and dairy production, she enjoys occasionally returning to campus as a guest lecturer in food science and mentoring student interns at her work.
Started teaching high schoolers
In addition to his college experience, Lon spent six years teaching ag ed at Beresford and was a teaching assistant at Iowa State for two years while pursuing his doctorate. Hilding Gadda, who taught ag ed at SDSU, told Lon that he would be retiring in a couple of years. Lon used that time to prepare to teach at the college level.
The job was open when Lon left Iowa State. He taught ag ed for 31 years at SDSU and served 10 years (2000-10) as head of teacher education.
Mary taught English at Rutland High School (1988-94) and Brookings High School (1994-2007) before joining SDSU in the teacher education department. While pursuing her master’s degree, SDSU faculty encouraged her to get her doctorate. About that time, the University of South Dakota created a cohort for education leaders with classes offered in Brookings.
“Opportunity and interest came together,” said Mary, who completed her doctorate in adult and higher education in 2004.
The Moellers' lives have also been marked by community service, particularly to a small parochial school in a village in Belize near the Guatemalan border. They first went there on spring break 2013 with three SDSU students and some people from their church, First Lutheran Church of Brookings. They have returned almost every year since then.
They have taught English, biology and agriculture to high school students and delivered teaching materials. Also, the school principal tapped into Lon’s ag background. At her request, he helped develop a school farm through the years.
The Moellers' children nominated their parents.
We are grateful for all the opportunities our whole family has enjoyed at SDSU.
— Lon Moeller
Written by Dave Graves, University Marketing & Communications
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