With only a car and pickup to their name, Dr. Raymond and Brenda Sidwell moved to Goltry, Oklahoma, in May of 1980, to start a life and family on the farm. Having themselves grown up on family farms near Pond Creek and Jefferson, Oklahoma, our mom and dad knew what a rural upbringing was all about: hard work, humility, integrity, passion, pride and of course, the freedom to roam, all precursors to entrepreneurialship, the epitome of our family. After getting married in 1973 and achieving his Ph.D. in Agronomic Sciences with a focus on wheat breeding in 1975 at Oklahoma State University (OSU), our dad sought his first career in seed breeding with Northrup King, now Syngenta, in Lubbock, Texas. Newly married, our mother started as a teacher at the Central Vocational Technology (VoTech) School at Drumright during which she started the State of Oklahoma's pilot program in preparing and placing graduates into the work force. Completing her Masters in Business Administration from OSU in 1976, our mother then became a secondary school teacher in Lubbock. After several years in Texas, our parents made the decision to relocate back to Northwest Oklahoma where our dad took the head job at the OSU North Central Research Station where he spent 34 years becoming the Senior Station Superintendent. Simultaneously, our mom started Sidwell Insurance Agency (www.sidwellins.com) in our kitchen, which has since grown to one of the most respected crop insurance agencies in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas with offices in Goltry and Piedmont, Oklahoma.
The return to the farm also marked the start of our family with Bambi and Brady born shortly thereafter. Both Bambi and Brady excelled at Timberlake High School and OSU, graduating in 2003 and 2004 with degrees in Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics with focus on International Marketing, respectively. Post graduation, Bambi and Brady carried on the curiosity of their parents, pursuing their own careers and interests. Bambi worked for Boeing, GE's Genworth Financial and Sunlife in California, before moving back to Oklahoma as a Vice President and Agent of Sidwell Insurance opening the company's Piedmont office where she is based today. Similarly, Brady pursued his Masters of Economics as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Hong Kong, subsequently taking jobs with Rabobank ( www.rabobank.com) and the OSI Group ( www.osigroup.com), working all throughout the Asia Pacific while remaining solely focused on Food & Agribusiness. In May 2014, Brady relocated to the headquarters of the OSI Group outside Chicago, leading Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions globally for the company.
The end of 2013 marked a major landmark in our lives and indeed in agriculture in our State with the passing of our father and the founder of Sidwell Farms. It is with great pride that we now work to carry on his legacy in not only maintaining a clean, organized and efficient family farming operation, but in growing it significantly. As farmers, we have all learned to be eternal optimists. As Sidwell's, we have developed a deep, profound desire to build successful and sustainable family businesses that are both socially responsible and generous contributors to the communities in which we live and work.
The Legacy of Dr. Raymond Sidwell
Where to start. It's interesting isn't it that one's legacy really only begins to manifest itself once we start learning to live without them. We really don't see it for what it is while it's being built right in front of us. With some time now having passed since experiencing that reality, it's become clearer to me than ever that dad was a man on a mission. He truly was a visionary, fixated on building a future for the future. As with most such men, dad wasn't understood by many. Admittedly, it took time to get to know him. He was focused on making his double shift, 18 hour days as productive as possible and often forgot the 'hello' and 'goodbye' niceties that many of us expect. However, for those fortunate enough to persevere, dad actually had a very kind heart, although one he didn't wear on his sleeve. While he was very explicit in building his infrastructure dreams, he was a man of anonymity with his emotions and deeds. These are by no means just words as our family came to know posthumously many such acts of kindness directly from those he helped during times of need.
Dad did things right the first time and took pride in making things look nice - lessons I hope I've internalized. He was also a master juggler who seldom dropped any balls. In addition to his full time job at the OSU Research Station, dad had a respectable farming operation, seed wheat business, a number of seasonal stocker cattle along with 'projects' involving state-of-the-art grain bins, cattle pens, fences and houses - all of which he nearly completed and all of which created a base to develop a sustainable operation to support a family and provide a rural America way of life.
Dad and I often discussed how 'he'd build it' and 'I'd put a business in it'. And for all those interested, that's exactly what I intend to do. It's time to bring dreams to life. His legacy lives on.
OSU Names New Research Station Facility in Honor of Raymond Sidwell
 LAHOMA, Okla. - The life's work of the late Raymond Sidwell of Goltry will continue to provide benefits to agricultural producers across the region, thanks to the new facility that will bear his name at the Oklahoma State University Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources' North Central Research Station. Sidwell served as senior station manager for the 143-acre experiment station, located in the heart of wheat production country just west of Lahoma, from June of 1980 until his passing in December of 2013. (More)
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