In memoriam

John Mikulcik

Dr. John David Mikulcik, an ASA and CSSA member for 62 years, died on 24 Mar. 2021 at age 84 in Murray, KY. He was born in Ilasco, MO on 30 July 1936. He earned both his master’s degree and his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri. He taught agronomy in the Hutson School of Agriculture at Murray State, was a member of the St. Leo Catholic Church, and was an Army veteran.

In addition to his parents, Mikulcik was preceded in death by one brother, Steve Mikulcik, Jr. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn Mikulcik of Murray; two daughters, Lisa Pomerleau and husband John of West Chester, OH, and Karen Paris and husband Matthew of Mount Juliet, TN; two sons, David Mikulcik and wife Stacey of Murray, KY, and Rev. Ken Mikulcik of Russellville, KY; one sister, Ann Stuller of St. Louis, MO; as well as 16 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Herb Ohm

Dr. Herb Ohm, an ASA and CSSA Fellow and member of both Societies for 45 years, passed away on 29 Apr. 2021 at the age of 76. He was awarded a B.S. degree in Agricultural Education from the University of Minnesota in 1967, an M.S. degree in Plant Breeding from North Dakota State University in 1969, and a Ph.D. in Plant Genetics and Breeding from Purdue University in 1972. After 41 years as a professor and adviser in the Purdue Department of Agronomy, Ohm retired in December 2014.

As a world-renowned plant breeder and geneticist, he was part of many recognized research opportunities with a focus on small grains. During his time at Purdue, he advised and mentored 62 graduate students. He was instrumental in building relationships with many international small-grains research programs, which helped grow the diversity of the Purdue Agronomy Department.

In 2004, Ohm was named a Distinguished Professor of Agronomy and served as interim Department Head of the Department of Agronomy from 2009–2010. He has co-authored more than 135 refereed publications on wheat and oat genetics and breeding and has received numerous awards and honors such as the Meritorious Service Award from the Organization of African Unity, the Crops and Soils Merit Award from the Indiana Crop Improvement Association, the American Oat Workers Award for Distinguished Service to Oat Improvement, and AAAS Fellow.

Ken Scheffe

Ken Scheffe, a member of SSSA for more than 25 years and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) employee for 40 years, passed away on 22 Feb. 2021 in Albuquerque, NM. He was raised on a farm/ranch in Iowa Park, TX, had a strong work ethic, and was a happy, generous, kind family man of great faith.

After graduating from Texas Tech University with degrees in Soil Science (B.S. in 1979 and MS in 1982), Scheffe worked his way up in the NRCS from a summer intern, soil surveyor, New Mexico State Soil Scientist, and finally retiring in 2018 as the National Soil Classification Specialist in Lincoln, NE. He received multiple awards throughout his career while managing large mapping projects on public and private lands and would often exclaim, “They pay us to go out all day to see and map these incredible landscapes that others take their hard-earned vacations to experience—what a job!” After retirement, he was a co-owner of Sustainable Soil Systems LLC and a contract soil scientist working in soil health with the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts.

Scheffe loved to garden and grow vegetables. He was passionate about woodworking, weather and soil climate monitoring, bicycling, hiking, golfing, traveling, and bird watching. He loved spending time with his family and spoiling his grandchildren. A man of many talents and a true team leader, he believed we should always treasure the people in our lives, spending time around a soil pit by day and a fire pit by night, exchanging ideas and sharing our stories as one family.