Idaho State Master Breeder passes away in accident

Riley Letham Mickelson, 74, of Lago, Idaho, passed away May 11, 2008, the result of a farm accident.

He was born March 2, 1934, at Lago, Idaho, the son of Harris Anton and Norma Letham Mickelson.

In order to get started in the registered Holstein business, Riley Mickelson’s father, Harris Mickelson, sold two grade cows and replaced them with one registered cow in the late 1930s and early ’40s. The animal that he had as a 4-H animal, Super-View Senatoral S, was a daughter of one of these foundation cows. She was born in 1944. At eighteen years of age this cow gave birth to twin heifer calves. One twin died at birth, but the other started a great cow family. As a result, there is a direct nine-generation line of very good (VG) or excellent (EX) females with 10 EX cows in this family.

The Life-O-Riley prefix is easily recognizable among registered Holstein breeders. Riley bred or developed many excellent cows during his lifetime. Life-O-Riley Marquis King was the highest type bull of the breed for type improvement in his time. The genetics from Marquis King continue to have a positive impact on the U.S. Holstein breed. The bloodlines from this bull include the famous U.S. brood cows Stookey Elmpark Blackrose, DRA August, the Sher-est Southwind Saturday cow families and others.

Riley has sold female seed stock to dairymen from Japan, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Korea and Argentina.

Riley showed cattle professionally in his younger years. He did very well at that and truly enjoyed the Western show circuits. He has been a leader in Holstein circles, has served on the board of directors and has served as president from the local level all the way to the state level. He helped organize the Quality Corner Holstein Sale and the judging school. He sponsored the judging school at his farm until it was decided to rotate the school to various farms. He has been on the sale selection committee at local, state and national levels. He also enjoyed being leadsman and ring man at all levels, including national sales.

Riley was active in 4-H and FFA and was a 4-H club leader for many years. He was the Idaho State FFA vice president in 1953 to 1954. He received the American Farm Degree in 1953. He chaired many State Farmer sifting committees. He judged many county and state fairs in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.

He served as Idaho’s delegate to seven National Holstein Conventions. He was a lifetime member of the Holstein Association, a member of the National Dairy Shrine and an Idaho Dairy Hall of Fame inductee.

Riley and his wife, Barbara, raised a family of 10 children. They have 33 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Five of their sons are involved in agriculture. Their girls are still dairy farmer’s daughters at heart. Neighbors are impressed by their ability to accomplish whatever they put their mind to.

Three things Riley consistently said he firmly believed were:

1) “Don’t get the pedigree so close to your face that you can’t see the animal.”

2) “You can breed better cattle from an average animal from a good family, than you can from an outstanding animal from a poor family.”

3) “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot in the end and hang on.” PD