Editors note: The following is Part 2 of the story of Dick Weller. As a leading advocate for up-to-date agricultural practices, Weller has shared a wealth of farm related advice over the years while serving his community and living an adventure-filled life.
On the Road
In 1975, Dick married Marilyn Brooks Butterfield May 16th in Princeton, Ill. Weller also noted that he and Marilyn built their own house out in the Hidden Hills area. He contracted out some of the more technical services but he proudly said that he did the wiring. The house was all electric because they couldn’t get gas service.
They shared 50 years of marriage before she passed away in November 2025 at the age of 99. The couple relished the joys of travel but also battled the agonies of disability when Marilyn lost her leg to cancer. Dick became a caretaker for her. However, that did not deter the couple.
“We’d be traveling, and she’d have to go to the bathroom at truck stops. I’d go right in with her [into the women’s facility],” he shared. “We found one thing funny at the Love’s truck stops. They had places where the truckers could clean up. The truckers told us to check at the counter and tell them she had to use the bathroom. They’d let us use the truckers’ facilities. They were roomier to get in and out of, and she didn’t have to wait in line.”
“I was on a lot of national committees in my work, and we’d have conferences in different states,” he said. “Marilyn and I were in every state except Alaska, Hawaii, and North Dakota, which I don’t know why we missed. We went across Canada and went into Mexico, but not very far.”
Weller recalled a company that was arranging farm tours and calling farm advisors to help as hosts, “All expenses paid,” he said with a sly grin. “I got calls about leading a tour to Germany to see their farms, but I didn’t want to go there. I said jokingly if you ever want to go to South America, let me know.”
This launched Weller into an overview of his travels south of the equator. Let’s just say that the relationship between Dick Weller and air travel wasn’t all that cozy.
On one trip, he led a group from Miami down to Panama, then to Peru, Argentine, and Brazil. Peru proved the most “interesting.” Yes, there was the obligatory tour of the Incan Machu Picchu, but trouble arose flying out from the airport near that famous site.
“We were flying out from this little town, I can’t remember its name,” he recalled. “The air is so thin at that altitude that you can fly out only at certain times of the day. We had to abort our takeoff because the plane blew out three tires. We had to stay overnight. When we got to Lima, we were behind schedule. So then it came time to fly out of Lima to Argentina, but something happened to the landing gear. We had to fly out over the ocean and dump fuel and try to land back at Lima. It was exciting to look out the window and see ambulances and fire trucks following you down the runway.”
On an agricultural note, one of the unusual experiences when the tour resumed was visiting an alligator slaughter house.
“On another visit, we came to a house, and I had to step over a board to get it. As I stepped over, I saw dozens and dozens of guinea pigs. They were running all over the house inside. That was the family’s meat supply,” he shared. “We also visited an apple orchard where they had pruned the trees so that they were flat on each side. Pickers rode along on a wagon and could reach up and pick the apples. They didn’t have to climb the trees.”
In Argentina, we took another plane down south to practically the tip,” recalled Weller. “We visited a farm with 800 acres of sunflowers. Other places had lots of cattle. One of the places we visited was a farmhouse with an American family living there. They owned no machinery. They arranged deals with implement dealers for farm equipment and then gave the dealers a portion of the income. Sort of like farming on shares.”
But that brought up another problem with airplanes. Attempting to return from their southern Argentina trip, the airline, a small regional company, went out of business and folded, leaving the tour group stranded. So they had to rent a bus for the 400-mile trip back to Buenos Aires. Two bus drivers were needed, and the bus would stop every 100 miles. At one of the stops, Weller noticed the two drivers sitting at a table drinking beer. But at least the farmers on the bus got to see farm land from the ground rather than from the air.
Weller also shared an encounter in South America with a farm that had no electricity. While investigating the grounds, he discovered a shed with lots of electrical equipment inside. The farmer told him that the electric lines were four miles away and when they got to their place, they would be ready for it.
Second Career
Weller retired from the Extension services in 1988. In recent years, while still able to travel, the Wellers spent winters at Saint Simon’s Island, Georgia. They’ve also spent some time at other wintering sites in Florida. Ever the adventurer, after his retirement and before the annual trips to the Georgia coast, Dick thought it would be neat to go down to DisneyWorld in Orlando and work there. That never happened. However, he knew a guy from Macomb who worked at another famous tourist destination in Orlando.
“He said, ‘I can get you a job at Sea World.’ I said OK, so he said, ‘Come tomorrow.’ I got the job.”
Problem is, Dick had this part-time job, but they had only one car. Marilyn would be left stranded, alone and unable to enjoy activities in the area. Chuckling, he said, “I worked part time at Sea World as a ticket taker for about 20 hours or so a week. She connected with another couple, so the two women would head out to shop and do other things, but mostly shop.” He joked about seeing people from back home at the Sea World gate, and they’d look at him and say, “What are you doin’ here?!” Rubbing Elbows
The time spent at Sea World set off a series of stories about moments when Dick made contact with famous people.
His earliest brush with fame is best said in words from a transcript of a conversation with daughter Peggy: “When I was 7-years-old, Dad and I took a load of cattle to the Chicago Stockyards. As a tradition, we would go to the Loop and go to the Palmer House to eat. As we were leaving, someone was between Dad and me in the revolving door. As I thought it was Dad, I took his hand, and Dad said, ‘Dick, do you know who you are holding hands with?’ When I looked up to see who it was, it was none other than Gene Autry, the ‘Singing Cowboy’.”
Another contact with a well-known personality occurred during Weller’s mid-career. Again, the story is best told from the transcribed account: “Arthur Godfrey was in Macomb for a political conference. I was pulling into the parking lot of my office when I noticed someone looking into the window of my office. It was Arthur. He told me he flew the speaker of the conference into Macomb [to be held at the 4-H Center]. As we were talking, Delbert Roberts and Charlotte Hamm (they worked for the Macomb Daily Journal) pulled up, and they also chatted with him. We even got our picture taken with him.”
[Note: Arthur Godfrey was a devoted advocate of the 4-H program. On his radio and television broadcasts, he would regularly feature details about 4-H youth and events as well as other bits of farm information. He also provided many public service announcements for the organization.] As an overseer of the 4-H program in McDonough County, Weller often chaperoned groups of young people attending the national 4-H club congress where they met Vanessa Williams, a former Miss America.
Back at the ticket gate at Sea World, Weller was told that a celebrity was coming with his son, but he had little idea who he was. Turns out it was Joe Piscopo from Saturday Night Live fame. He provided an escort for them out of the park.
But Weller held his best story in reserve. In February 1989, 40-year-old heavyweight boxing champion George Forman was in Orlando at the Atlantis Theater to defend his title against 29-year-old Manuel Clay de Almeida. Forman won that fight in the third round on a technical knockout. During his stay in Orlando, Forman came through the gates at Sea World a few days before the fight to make a promo — through Dick’s gate. As Forman went in, Dick slapped him on the back. “I’m probably the only person in McDonough County who has punched George Forman,” he giggled.
But even more memorable than that was what occurred after the promo shoot.
“Later that day, I saw Forman sitting out on the curb at the entrance, waiting for his limo. So I closed the gate and went out and sat down with him for a while and we chatted. He was just like anyone else.” The mind boggles at the scene of Dick Weller and George sitting on the curb at Sea World and shooting the breeze.
“It was fun working there. They wanted me to stay, but I was there for only three months.”
Because Weller had a rescheduled meeting, his stories about hobnobbing with the famous came to an end. However, given the time to recall, especially when one memory triggers another, you could sense that he had much more to share.
At 95 going on 96, Weller’s memory and story telling ability is still sharp. Here’s the thing. This article covers only a fraction of the stories he has lived. Older daughter Peggy has documented many of them in a scrapbook and in some recordings (one of which was surreptitiously obtained during the COVID years via on-line connections).
After Marilyn’s passing last year, Dick struggled with the sense of loneliness that comes to all those who lose a lifetime spouse or partner. That sadness combined with declining health prompted his family to urge a move to The Elms, to which Dick readily agreed. Together, they sold his house and his car and then gathered the accumulation of nearly a century of life for the annual Presbyterian Church rummage sale.
Dick is settled in at The Elms and speaks highly of the facility, the personnel, and the care. “It’s home,” he said. And why not, since he’s partly responsible for The Elms’ existence as well as a host of other McDonough County landmarks — and memories.
Dick Weller, McDonough County Extension Director and former member of the McDonough District Hospital Board, accepts a plaque from Board Chairman Waldo Horribin for the many years of service given to the hospital.
