Retired owner, Elmwood Farm

“I learned how to hold meetings, how to get along with others and how to understand the many workings of everything we take part in.”

Walter Frahm, a member of the Saginaw East Side 4-H club in Saginaw County, is the retired owner of Elmwood Farm of Frankenmuth. His three sons now manage the farm, which has produced dairy cattle, wheat, sugar beets, corn and soybeans over the years. Frahm has held all offices of the local and state Guernsey Association and was a director at large for Michigan Farm Bureau for 17 years. He helped develop state legislation for the Farmland and Open Space Preservation Act (P.A. 116) and organized support for new MSU veterinary facilities. He was honored with a 1956 Distinguished MSU Ag Tech Alumni award and named the 1972 Michigan Dairyman of the Year. He received the 1977 MSU Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award and was named the 1990 Outstanding Farm Bureau Member for Saginaw County. He was also inducted into the Michigan Farmers Hall of Fame in 2000.

He served as president of the Frankenmuth Board of Education for 23 years and the Saginaw County Department of Public Works Board for 10 years, and he was secretary for the county Dairy Herd Improvement Association. He was a Saginaw County commissioner for eight years and a member of the Saginaw County Fair Association. He also served on the Saginaw County 4-H Council and District Council, was a Saginaw County 4-H volunteer leader for dairy and woodworking projects, and judged goats at county fairs for 35 years. In addition, he served in the U.S. Army from 1946-47 as a surgical technician and served his church as a deacon and elder.