At 91 years old, Lois Lawson continues to stay connected to the blue and gold. Photo courtesy of Lois Lawson.
This fall, Lois (Tank) Lawson has been thinking a lot about her Wisconsin high school, even though she graduated more than 70 years ago. During her senior year in 1952, Lawson was selected as the Brandon FFA Chapter Sweetheart, a distinction that allowed women to be part of FFA at a time when they couldn’t hold full membership.
As Chapter Sweetheart, Lawson received a blue jacket made of rayon, which distinguishes hers from the blue corduroy jackets held in esteem by FFA members. “We’re not sure that any of the boys had an FFA jacket in the school’s history,” says David Laatsch, a retired FFA advisor and avid FFA memorabilia collector. “At the time, a jacket cost $6, which was more than a farm family could justify.”
According to Laatsch, Chapter Sweethearts weren’t prevalent across Wisconsin. He taught agriculture for 35 years — his entire career — at Beaver Dam High School, which never selected a Chapter Sweetheart.
“That’s why I was so excited about Lois’ jacket,” says Laatsch, who discovered Lawson’s story through Fond du Lac County 4-H Leader Cindy Sheskey. She learned about the jacket through a friend of Lawson’s son.
A Surprise Then and Now
In 1952, Lawson was surprised to be named Chapter Sweetheart. “I didn’t know then, and I still don’t know why they picked me,” she says. “But it was an honor.”
Lawson’s high school yearbook includes a group photo of the Brandon FFA Chapter, which selected her as its Chapter Sweetheart. Photo courtesy of Lois Lawson.
After high school, she and her husband, Charlie, operated the farm where Lawson grew up in Fond du Lac County. “It was a lot of work, and we didn’t get much pay,” Lawson says of those hard years. “I also worked in the office at Ripon Foods, and later in the office at Davis Manufacturing until I was 86 years old.”
Now 91, she still lives in the farmhouse where she grew up, and where her Chapter Sweetheart jacket has been safely kept all these years.
“She’s just so proud of her family farm, her school and her selection as Chapter Sweetheart that she kept this jacket in pristine condition,” says Laatsch, who suggested this story to the Ripon newspaper.
“Lois’ class only had about 25 students, and four of them have contacted her to congratulate her on the article,” he adds. One of those, William Guenther, reminisced with Lawson about the FFA chapter’s fertilizer demonstration plot, where they treated grain for farmers in their community.
Lawson’s customized jacket is made of rayon, a special material that sets it apart from the corduroy jackets worn by past, present and future FFA members. Photo courtesy of Lois Lawson.
Lawson’s jacket was on display in the Expo Hall during the 98th National FFA Convention & Expo, where attendees could learn more about FFA history.
“This has just all been unreal,” Lawson says of the attention she’s received in the past few months. “That’s the beauty of both a small town and the fraternalism of FFA,” Laatsch adds.
Timeless Traditions
As the National FFA Organization speeds toward its centennial in 2027, take a look at some monumental milestones in FFA history, including full FFA membership access to women in 1969, and access a full timeline of events starting in 1917.
