By Ben Cox
Tom Burrus left this world in October 2017 and is still dearly missed by the many who knew him. His devotion to the area is well documented.
He was the perfect compliment to his brother, Todd Burrus, in the family business. The third generation of the company, Tom Burrus joined full time after graduating from Illinois College in 1971.
A business and economics major, Burrus was an active member of Gamma Nu, elected senior class president and recognized with the Investment Award. He met his wife Marcy on the Hilltop. The couple supported many causes at Illinois College, including a significant investment in the renovation of the Joe Brooks Baseball Field, which resulted in the Burrus Seed scoreboard. They were also charter members of the Illinois College Society and were honorary parade marshals of IC’s homecoming parade in 2016. Tom Burrus also served a 5-year term as an IC trustee.
Burrus was actively involved in the community, serving two terms on the Passavant Area Hospital Board of Directors, as commissioner of the Coon Run Drainage District and in many capacities at Arenzville United Methodist Church.
His work in the independent seed industry was recognized numerous times throughout his career. He was the recipient of the 2010 IPSA Industry Service Award and named an Honorary Life Member of the Illinois Seed Trade Association. He also served as chair of Illinois Foundation Seed, Inc. for six years. He was inducted into the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2010. The 100th Illinois General Assembly marked his passing with a resolution on November 9, 2017.
It is said that Burrus had an impressive collection of artwork with corn as a theme and also had a good retrospective of retired seed sacks in his collection. Several folks have “Tom stories” that they carry with them. Now eight years on, his memory remains a blessing and his legacy of relationships, honesty and hard work carry on.
This work by American poet Carl Sandburg from “Cornhuskers,” a volume of poetry first published in 1918, is now in the public domain and seems fitting:
ILLINOIS FARMER
Bury this old Illinois farmer with respect.
He slept the Illinois nights of his life after days of work in Illinois cornfields.
Now he goes on a long sleep.
The wind he listened to in the cornsilk and the tassels, the wind that combed his red beard zero mornings when the snow lay white on the yellow ears in the bushel basket at the corncrib,
The same wind will now blow over the place here where his hands must dream of Illinois corn.
