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DADE CITY — Trying to find Patsy Nathe to talk with her about the big award she just won Friday afternoon was a bit tricky.
"I'm telling you. She's always on the go, go, go," joked her husband, R.J. Nathe. "If there's a board in town that she's not on, then they just started it today."
And sure enough, she was at a board meeting Friday. This was in Tampa and about the state of our water supplies. People who know Nathe, 66, don't know how she gets all of her energy. Nathe was born to a citrus family in St. Joseph, a small town near Dade City, and then she fell in love with a timber logging man, R.J.
They married in 1959 and together created R.J. Nathe and Sons Inc., which is a range of timber, land clearing, cattle and citrus concerns.
She and R.J. had six children. So in between running the business and raising kids, Nathe would have had enough on her plate. But she has never stopped. She also was an account executive at a promotional modeling agency and she was the business manager for her sons' company, Tall Timber Cattle and Grove. She attended courses on beef marketing and earned her own Master Logger certification.
She threw a lot of her energy into agriculture education, as well — whether it was recording spots for beef commercials, doing cooking demonstrations, organizing fashion shows or giving ranch tours or talks.
She is on all kinds of agricultural boards, such as Florida Cattlewomen, Florida Forestry Association and on and on. She was invited to the White House in 2001 and spoke with President George W. Bush as an ambassador for small business owners.
"I live down the road from her," said Allen Altman, agency manager for the Pasco County Farm Bureau. "I'll see her out in the groves working. But she's also just as comfortable talking with senators and congressmen about agricultural issues."
Because of all of this, Nathe was named Woman of the Year in Agriculture by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida State Fair Authority. She will be given the award during a luncheon on the opening day of the Florida State Fair on Feb. 5.
It is a lifetime achievement award, said Terence McElroy, spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. He said that the award began in the 1980s as a way to recognize the role women have played in agriculture for centuries — though maybe they weren't lauded for it in years past.
Nathe is "someone who has been an ambassador" for the industry, he said. "She's a great representative."
When reached on the phone Friday night, Nathe said she was humbled and honored.
"I'm very proud," she said.
She and R.J. have eight grandchildren and they're just used to being busy. They're both up at 4:30 a.m. every day and keep on going until it's dark. She said she cares so much about education because a love of the land is in her and part of her.
She wants urban kids to know where their food comes from. She worries about development encroaching on farmland and she feels protective about protecting it, of being a good steward to the earth.
"I feel very passionate about it," she said.
Erin Sullivan can be reached at esullivan@sptimes.com or (813) 909-4609.
[Last modified: Nov 21, 2008 09:04 PM]
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