Marcy Kaptur: “Today our community bid special praise and farewell to a beautiful human being, Howard Zwyer of Monclova, Ohio. A…”

“Today our community bid special praise and farewell to a beautiful human being, Howard Zwyer of Monclova, Ohio. A lifelong farmer, along with his wife, Eleanor, his brother, Ray, and his wife, Thelma, farmed over 1,000 acres as their father had before them. And the Zwyer family, and Howard, carried on an ethic of stewardship of our land, of husbandry, soil conservation and community mindedness that surely is not equaled by any other American. He was 83. He lived to be 83, and he died within a mile of his birthplace. He and his brother, Ray, and their father, John, began growing corn, soybeans and wheat in the early years, even raising beef cattle. Now, their father died in 1963, and the brothers took over. And they loved the land. When he retired formally from agriculture, he gardened and shared the produce with others. He really needed to work with the soil. It was part of him. And he never complained about being a farmer. Mr. Zwyer retired formally about 20 years ago, and his brother died in 2002. I can tell you, they represented agriculture in Northern Ohio.”