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Farmer, father and WB icon Floyd Fawcett dies at 95
by Rob Poggenklass · News · November 08, 2006
Floyd Fawcett, the last surviving member of the original Hoover Birthplace Society, which helped bring the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site to West Branch, died Saturday morning at Crestview Nursing & Rehab Center. He was 95 years old.
Fawcett’s contributions to the community were hardly limited to his work on the Birthplace Society, which was started in 1939 and later became the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association. He was a former president of the West Branch Board of Education, a 50-year board member of the West Branch State Bank, and also gave his time to the West Branch Development Group, Scattergood Friends School and Conservative Friends Meeting, among others.
Throughout the 20th century, Fawcett was often present when important decisions were made about the future of such West Branch institutions as the Hoover Site, the school district and the downtown.
He was on the school board during the process of consolidation with the Springdale School District. Ken Fawcett, one of Floyd’s four children, said that was a particularly tough time. He said his father often served as a mediator when difficult decisions had to be made.
“He always said there were two sides to every story,” Ken Fawcett said. “I think he had an ability to see both sides, and that benefitted the community.”
None was more difficult than the decision to bring a federal park to West Branch in the 1960s. In a 2001 interview with the West Branch Times, Floyd Fawcett said the Hoover Birthplace Society “made mistakes, without any question,” but that in the end, “they did get it done.”
The existence of the National Park Service in West Branch, beginning with the purchase of several homes and businesses to make room for the Historic Site, did not set well with many local residents.
“He tried to balance the park with the community,” Ken Fawcett said. “I think there are still hard feelings about it today.”
Ken Fawcett said his father often extended a hand to new park superintendents who came to West Branch, and explained to them the difficult but important relationship between the park and the town.
Fawcett had a close relationship with Allan Hoover, President Hoover’s son. The two communicated often about the happenings at the Historic Site and Presidential Library-Museum.
Without Floyd Fawcett, it’s possible that the 136-year-old historic building called the Hoover House might have been torn down in 1964. Fawcett started the West Branch Development Group and convinced many local residents to invest their dollars in the building. The initial purchase cost was only $11,000, but in an interview in June of this year, Floyd said the renovation cost somewhere between $150,000 and $200,000.
After the building was restored, Fawcett and his wife, Mary Helen, opened a restaurant there. It failed miserably, by Floyd’s own account, and investors didn’t see a return.
“Everyone who put money into it lost that money,” Ken Fawcett said. “But he always said, ‘At least we saved the building.’”
As a member of the Cedar County Conservation Board, Fawcett played an instrumental role in the purchase of the county’s park areas, including the ones near Bennett, Rochester and Cedar Valley. He also traveled the Midwest helping to raise money for the main building at Scattergood Friends School. Ken Fawcett said one of his father’s proudest achievements was helping to install the memorial at West Branch Cemetery. Floyd was also a member of the local Lions Club and Masonic Lodge for many years.
When there was discussion just a few years ago about removing the Heritage Square Gazebo, Fawcett stepped in. He believed the gazebo helped tie the Hoover Site to downtown West Branch, and that it should remain on Main Street. It did.
“Floyd told me that was the only letter he wrote to the West Branch Times,” said Jake Krob, then the editor. “I don’t know if I believe it.”
While Floyd’s accomplishments were many, it was his personality and lively conversation that made an impression on many who knew him.
“He was inspiring — so independent and full of life,” said Cheryl Mercer, director at Crestview. “I feel very lucky to have gotten to know him.”
Fawcett loved to tell stories, particularly about the history of West Branch. He felt some of the stories were so important that he recorded what he knew on audiotapes. On one occasion, Pat Forsythe, the executive director of the Hoover Library Association, and Bob Caldwell, then the director of the local cable access channel, recorded a video of Floyd telling about the Hoover Site and how it came to be.
Fawcett had the privilege of meeting several U.S. presidents, including West Branch’s own Herbert Hoover. Among Fawcett’s many keepsakes is a picture of himself with Lyndon Johnson, taken on May 1, 1969.
Ken Fawcett said that many of Floyd’s tapes and letters will be donated to the Hoover Library.
Forsythe remembers the wonderful relationship Fawcett had with Mary Helen, his wife of more than 60 years, and the tremendous sense of humor they shared.
“I’ve never met people like he and Mary Helen,” Forsythe said. “If anybody ever had a lifelong love, they did.”
Fawcett was born July 25, 1911 near West Branch, the son of Logan and Malissa Thomas Fawcett. His father died when he was only 3 or 4 years old, and the family moved to town, where Floyd and his younger brother Alfred grew up. As a senior at West Branch High School, Floyd was a member of the undefeated 1929 Bears team.
He attended William Penn College before transferring to Iowa State, where he studied animal husbandry. Ken Fawcett said Floyd was told that his William Penn credits would transfer but none did; as a result, it took six years for Floyd to finish college. While at ISU, he met Mary Helen, and they married on May 20, 1939. Mary Helen died in 2002.
When he was about 26 or 27, during the Great Depression, Floyd returned with Mary Helen to the family farm near Centerdale, where they lived for more than 60 years. Ken Fawcett said Floyd and Alfred, having spent most of their lives in town and at school, didn’t know much about farming.
“They would watch the neighbors to see what they were supposed to be doing,” Ken said.
In 1983, Floyd’s son John took a job as executive director of the Hoover Library Association. That was enough to convince Floyd and Mary Helen to move to town. Always wanting to keep an eye on West Branch and on the park, they bought a house that overlooked both, at 330 West Main.
In his later years, Fawcett stayed independent and kept a sense of humor, even when his health forced him to move to Crestview Nursing Home in February 2005, at age 93. Floyd was the honored guest at Hoover Elementary’s 50th anniversary celebration in May 2005, and at the CROP Walk in September 2006.
Ken Fawcett said that the family took Floyd out for a drive just a week before his death — he wanted to review the progress at the new Procter & Gamble expansion, take a look at Fawcett’s Pond and see how the harvest was going.
Ken Fawcett said neighbors may have wondered why the harvest was taking their family so long this year.
“Dad told us, ‘I hope I live long enough to finish the harvest,’” Ken said.
After delaying as long as they could, the Fawcetts finished harvesting last Friday at 5 p.m. Floyd Fawcett died Saturday morning.
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