Allyn Anthony was born and raised on his family’s fruit farm in Keeler Township,
south of Hartford, Michigan. He is a fourth generation grower. In 1940, his parents,
Richard & Dorothy, purchased the twenty acre farm from Richard’s mother. In the ‘50’s
they added another forty acres where they raised small fruits and vegetables. Richard
began planting orchards and raising vegetables in between the rows until the orchards
were big enough to produce on their own.
He graduated from Michigan State University in 1966, receiving his B. A. in Business.
He also met his first wife, Linda there. They had two children, Marc and Michelle.
Following college, he and his family moved to the farm to help his father.
Richard passed away suddenly in 1968 and Allyn and Linda purchased the farms from his mother.
They continued to purchase additional farms in the ‘70’s. They raised 40 acres of asparagus,
40 acres of tart cherries, and approximately 100 acres of apples.
Along with farming, he has been involved on many Boards and Organizations including;
MACMA Asparagus Committee, Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board, MACMA Apple Committee,
Van Buren County Farm Bureau Board, and Michigan State Horticultural Society, and was
the President in 1997. He and Linda received, “Farm Manager of the Year”, award in
1980 from Michigan State University. He attends and serves at Sister Lakes Community
Church as Elder and has been a Sunday School Teacher and Youth Leader. He also served
nine years on the Grace Christian School Board and as Treasurer.
In 1994 Allyn’s first wife Linda died and in 1995 he and Jeri Drake were married.
She teaches 4th Grade at Grace Christian School in Watervliet. His son Marc is married
to Laura and they have four children; Susan, Linda, Allyn and Rose, and live in Holland.
Michelle and her husband, Tim Hamm, live in Grand Rapids and have a daughter, Amy.
Allyn and Jeri continue to live on his home farm of 20 acres, with 10 acres planted
to high density apples. In 2002 Allyn sold 120 acres of his farms and in December
of that year was hired as the Executive Secretary of the Michigan State Horticultural Society. He enjoys working with other commodity partners on common issues in agriculture. His passion is to help the Fruit Industry stay viable in the 21st Century. He is also the Zoning Administrator for Keeler Township and still wears his farmer hat on some days.
The Michigan State Horticultural Society is pleased to present the Distinguished Service
Award to Allyn Anthony for his many years of service to the Fruit Industry.