Photo Credit: Sheller Family
When you think about what it means to “Live to Serve,” you might picture someone who gives their time or helps others. But for Don Sheller, a farmer who’s seen both hardship and hope, it goes much deeper than that.
Sheller truly lives to serve through his work in agriculture, his dedication to his community and his faith. He lost his arm in a farming accident on March 4, 2025.
“Well, I got a bit careless and got too close,” he says. “The wind was blowing, and I got too close to a PTO. It caught my coat and wrapped my arm up. So, I guess they decided to take my arm to basically save my life. I’m still farming and doing everything I can. That is the one thing I enjoy doing: working.”
Despite such a life-changing accident, Sheller didn’t stop. He kept farming, kept serving and kept giving. Every year, he gives out scholarships to FFA members in his local chapter, Briggsdale FFA.
“We give out quite a few scholarships,” Sheller says. “We give out one in honor of my brother, and we give that to somebody that he actually knew, a family member or someone who worked for him in our community. We look for someone we know real well and have respect for.”
Sheller had a simple but powerful answer when asked what “Living to Serve” means to him.
“Well, I guess we serve by the food we raise, the cattle we raise,” he says. “We serve our whole nation — actually, the whole world — with food and anything along those lines.”
It’s easy to forget how much farmers serve us all every day, often without thanks. But Sheller doesn’t do it for praise; he does it because it’s who he is.
“Well, the first thing that I would give as advice to anybody, not just FFA members, is to have God first in life,” he says. “Then everything else. If you love God, then good is good according to His purpose. He will take care of you and whatever you go into. So, put Him first and never give up. I could have given up a lot of times, but I didn’t. God blessed me.”
Sheller shows that living to serve isn’t just a motto; it’s a way of life.
