Kepler Retiring After 38 Years in Extension
Published: Friday, June 9, 2023
Mark Kepler has done just about everything an Extension educator can do.
From serving as president of the county plan commission to teaching horticulture classes in the public schools to working with farmers in Ukraine and Vietnam, Kepler has devoted nearly 40 years of his life to agricultural education.
In the communities where he has served—11 years in Lake County and the past 27 years in Fulton County, Kepler's investment of time and talent has changed lives and improved agricultural literacy for thousands of people. In addition, he has served on local, state, national and international committees dedicated to the purpose of advancing agricultural education.
On June 30, after 38 years as a county educator with the Purdue University Extension Service, Kepler plans to retire.
Kepler grew up on a small farm near Culver.
"We had a general farm that had dairy, swine, sheep, beef, goats, rabbits, chickens and a couple of geese," he said. "That farm is still in the family, and the part I own goes back to my ancestors of 1850. I now live on my great-grandfather's farm in rural Argos that goes back to 1910."
After graduating from high school, Kepler enrolled at Purdue University and eventually graduated with a degree in animal science and agriculture education. He furthered his education at South Dakota State University, earning a master's degree in animal science.
During the summers, Kepler worked at Extension offices in Marshall, Vigo, Bartholomew and Jasper counties.
"Paul Crooks hired me into Extension for one of those summer jobs," Kepler said. "He gave me the opportunity to find a career where I could grow as a person, follow my passions and work with a lot of great people."
At Purdue, the award for outstanding Extension educator is named after Crooks, who was an Extension educator in Benton, Fountain and Morgan counties. He also served as associate director of Purdue Extension from 1962-82. The memorial award was first given in 1985.
Last December, during Purdue Extension's annual conference in West Lafayette, Kepler received the Paul B. Crooks Outstanding Extension Educator Award for 2022. The award recognizes educators who have shown significant impact in their area of assignment, teamwork and collaboration, and exceptional Extension programming.
Kepler said receiving the award was "the culmination of my career."
A previous recipient of the Paul B. Crooks award, Lynn Korniak, retired last month from her job as an Extension 4-H educator in Cass County. Korniak won the award in 2004.
In 2005, Kepler worked with a community group to reestablish a leadership academy that had been defunct for eight years. Utilizing Purdue's leadership program as the basic component, Kepler facilitated 18 classes per year, in addition to a program aimed at informing the class on local issues. This program has continued for 17 years and has graduated 270 students.
The leadership classes have resulted in a beach being placed on Lake Manitou, park improvements in Akron, a festival in Akron, a community career and job fair, and numerous other successful community improvements.
His involvement in this program led him to team with other educators and a Purdue specialist to form a community leadership program to make available similar programing throughout the state. There are now 14 communities in the state using the Purdue Community Leadership Program.
One leadership class project created the Fulton County Youth Leadership Academy. Kepler became the instructor that led the class of local high school juniors. He is an instructor in the academy and serves on their board of directors.
Kepler said he recently heard from a former school superintendent, who thanked Kepler for his work with the leadership academy. The former school official said the effort has produced "great fruit" over the years.
Outside of Fulton County, Kepler was an original member of the Small Farms Team and helped plan the Small Farm Conference for several years. On the national level, he presented a paper at two National Small Farms Conferences.
He has been a member of the SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) team and has organized several educational programs, including a sheep and goat tour in 2022.
As a member of the Purdue Beef Team, Kepler was active in beef cattle informational and educational meetings. He worked with the local beef cattle group and local farmers to organize and present programing, including the annual Beef Pasture Walk. With his leadership, the Fulton County Extension office hosted a video site for the Purdue Bull Sale for 15 years prior to COVID-19.
For 10 years, Kepler, as a member of the Purdue Small Ruminant Team, coordinated the statewide goat webinar programs featuring speakers from Purdue and Kentucky State University. More recently, he has contributed to the "Goat Lunch and Learn" program. He regularly fielded goat questions from other educators around the state.
He has written weekly and/or monthly newspaper columns in the communities he has served for 38 years. One of those is a monthly grazing column for The Farmer's Exchange.
Internationally, Kepler has worked with farmers in Russia and presented a program at a university in Ukraine. He has been able to arrange for four students from the Ukrainian University to work in agriculture in and around Fulton County. He is still in contact with one of those students through the host family. Students have lived and are a part of these families during their stay.
Also, Kepler initiated a program with Purdue called FarmStay. He was part of the first group of educators who accompanied students to Vietnam as part of their international course work. From these international trips, 15 columns and 20 programs have been presented introducing the local community to agriculture in these countries.
He served as the Fulton County plan commission president for the first 11 years since its inception, plus another 11 years as vice president. He was also an original member of the county park board. He taught school programs on tree science, invasive species, native species and poisonous plants.
In addition to receiving the Crooks award, Kepler and two other individuals—Elysia Rogers, DeKalb County Extension educator, and Keith Johnson, Purdue forage specialist—received the Team Award from Purdue Extension for their Forage Friday Webinars.
In retirement, Kepler says he plans to devote time to land he owns in both Indiana and South Dakota.
"I also like doing geology and have lots of stories I would like to research," he said. "I hope that includes some traveling. I also have a lot of knowledge and experiences that I hope do not go to waste. I will have to find something to keep that going to a lesser degree."
A public celebration is planned for June 22 in Kepler's honor. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the community building at the Fulton County Fairgrounds in Rochester. An informal lunch will be served.
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