a dairy milking 160 cows and named it “The Marysville Milk Farm”. He sold the milk to Crystal Creamery and hand delivered bottled milk to the residents in Wheatland and area schools. He also built two drive-thru dairies, one at Erle Road and one in Linda, where one could drive up to the window and buy a variety of dairy products.

Roger helped start the Plumas Brophy Fire House on Dairy Road where local 4-H meetings used to be held. He was a great supporter of 4-H and encouraged everyone to join. He was on the Board of Trustees for Wheatland High School for 43 years, from 1957 to 2000, tied in 4th  place for all time longevity in California school board history. He was on the board when the new high school was built and when all the growth from Beale Air Force occurred in the 1970’s. He actively supported Future Farmers of America and in 1988 got the support of the board to start the Agriculture Department at Wheatland High School. He was chairman of the Ag Advisory Committee and volunteered time, sometimes daily, for the rest of his life mentoring hundreds of students and providing leadership to the youth of our community. He was the first Honorary Chapter Farmer for Wheatland High School.

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Roger felt it was important to offer other avenues of education, aside from college, as some students had other interests besides academics and he wanted them to have the opportunity to explore the field of Agriculture. He was always an advocate for the students helping to develop the school farm and greenhouse. He was excited to help the students restore old tractors starting with a 1937 CAT. They rebuilt, painted and exhibited it at the Yuba Sutter Fair. He also mentored welding and many of the students gained careers in the welding field. When he retired from the board in 2000, the Ag-Mechanic building was named after him with a plaque “Roger Murray Ag Mechanics Facility”.

 In the late 1970’s he invented a Cage Wheel Tractor. Roger, his son Eric, built it, took it apart and had it shipped to Ecuador. They flew down, put it back together and worked with the people to show them how to use it in working their very wet rice grounds. Son Eric came home after 4 weeks, but Roger stayed on for about a year and a half and also spending some time in Belize. Unfortunately the tractor was not patentable as there were three other similar patents already pending across the country. It was a wonderful experience for Roger and an example of his penchant for helping others. When he returned home he used his contractor’s license to start a heavy equipment business and began land leveling and excavation projects in our community. He also built dairies, barns, shops; whatever needed doing. Many of his projects are still in use today.

In the early 1980’s he was the general contractor building the South Yuba and Brophy Water Districts. There were several bids to do the projects, all too high, so Roger got the job. South Yuba and Brophy Water Districts would never have been built if not for Roger Murray. In the late 1990’s he built phase one of Dry Creek Mutual Water Company and also completed many projects for the Yuba Water Agency. Water management was very important to him as he could see it was critical to farming in the area. He always felt water would be the world’s biggest issue in the future. He had a natural understanding of elevations, water flows and the needs of the area farmers for irrigation.

It is with honor and pride that a scholarship in Roger Murrays’ name is now available for a deserving student in our area. We hope students will be encouraged by the life of one person, Roger Murray, who was so important in our area and full of worthy contributions to the community he lived in. He never retired from his work and was quick to support anyone who needed help getting a job done. All who knew him were first and foremost struck by his kind nature and willing leadership towards the youth of our community. His 87 years of curiosity and life-long compilation of wisdom are a valuable example for youth beginning in the wonderment of life and where it can take you. There is no end to the work to be done and you can do it.  

Roger L. Murray 1929-2016