Ilus Ray Mackey

On April 30, 2016, agriculture lost an advocate and true leader. Ray Mackey not only represented his farming interests in the towns of Sonora, Glendale and Elizabethtown and in the counties of Hardin, LaRue and Breckinridge, but he also worked for agriculture all over the state of Kentucky and across the nation.

Ilus Ray Mackey was born Aug. 10, 1927, in Clinton County. At age 13, his father died, leaving him and his five siblings without a father. His mother, Myrtle Mackey, recognized the need for her children to have educational opportunities. She moved her family to Lexington in the mid-1940s so that her sons could attend the University of Kentucky. In order to provide for her family, she ran a boarding house on the edge of the UK campus.

Ray Mackey graduated in 1949 with a degree in Agronomy from the College of Agriculture. In 1950, he accepted a position with Dixie Stock Farms in Sonora and later that year he married Anne Kenney Houston of Lexington. Mackey's role on the farm was to supervise their hybrid seed corn operation. Through his collaboration with Dixie Stock Farms and the University of Kentucky, he contributed to the development of what we all know as KY 31 Fescue seed. His contributions to agricultural research continued throughout his career.

Ray Mackey became the owner of Dixie Stock Farms in 1954. His younger brother, Herbert, joined him as co-owner. They raised hybrid seed corn, grains, tobacco and Angus cattle. With encouragement from life-long friend and fellow UK graduate, Paul Denny Hamm, Ray became involved with the Hardin County Farm Bureau. Despite his humble origins, he became a trusted community leader and advocate for agriculture. Farmers in Hardin and surrounding counties - and the entire state of Kentucky - benefited from his efforts.

In 1971, Ray purchased Meadow View Farms, where he established his family farm that, to this day, continues to operate according to his vision.

Ray became president of the Kentucky Farm Bureau in 1978 and served in that capacity until 1991. During that time, he also served on the American Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors for 10 years. In 1981, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University Kentucky College of Agriculture. He won the National 4-H Alumni Award in 1985. Ray was named "Man of the Year in Service to Agriculture" by the Progressive Farm magazine. In 1991, he was named Agricultural Leader of the Year by the Agricultural Communicators of Kentucky.

Mackey was preceded in death by his parents, Ilus and Myrtle Mackey; brothers, Eugene, Horace and Everett Mackey; and sister, Elizabeth Tuggle. In 2007, he was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years and mother of his children, Anne K. Houston Mackey.

Ray Mackey is survived by his brother, Herbert Mackey and Vera of Elizabethtown; sisters, Alberta Mackey of Nicholasville and Melvina Mackey Brown of Burkesville; along with several nieces and nephews. He leaves seven children and their families behind to celebrate and continue his love for the land and farming: AnneRae Wright and Jack, Ray Allan Mackey and Jan, Scott Mackey and Karen, David Mackey and Stephanie, Roger Mackey, Carol Hinton and Steven, and Sarah Mackey and Nils Samuels. He is also survived by grandchildren ,Jennifer and Don Fulford, Grant and Stuart Mackey, Rebecca Mackey, Elizabeth, Mary, Ashley, Julia, Emily and Addison Hinton, Clarissa, Sawyer and Alexandra Mackey, Lydia, Vivian and Oscar Mackey, Tyler (Lindsey) and Taylor Bruce; and great-grandchildren Austin and Carley Fulford and Carter.

These family members have the challenge of continuing the farming legacy that Ray Mackey began over 65 years ago.

The funeral is at 2 p.m. Friday, May 6, at Gilead Baptist Church near Glendale. Burial follows in the Mackey Cemetery on Mackey Road south of Elizabethtown.

Visitation is from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at Brown Funeral Home in Elizabethtown.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to the Ray Mackey Lincoln Trail Ag Alumni Scholarship Fund, in care of The Cecilian Bank, or by mail to Lincoln Trail Ag Alumni, 3098 Sandy Hill Road, Webster KY 40176.