Photo by Jody Isaackson The Lanoues of Marshall are growing ag businesses along with their family. Pictured are the Lanoues: Front row: Simon, Ruth, Mary, Paul and Rose. Back row: Luke and David.

Editor’s Note: This story is the first in a series that reflect the contributions made by Marshall High School graduates when they returned to the community.

RURAL MARSHALL– Many small towns in rural Minnesota experience an attrition that calls their young people to bigger pastures, many of which do not find their way home again.

In Marshall, though, there seems to be a large number of young people who do eventually return home to raise a family, build a career or reunite with old friends, and ultimately giving back to the community.

Marshall’s Paul and Ruth Lanoue are among those that have found their way back and are making that contribution to the community.

The couple grew up in the area, Ruth graduated from Marshall High School, and Paul, from Tracy. They each attended a university to obtain their degrees, with Paul at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities and Ruth at Bismarck, North Dakota.

Even though they grew up on farms, showing livestock together as kids, they were more friends than dating during their high school and college years, probably not yet dreaming about settling down, let alone where.

“If there was still arranged marriages, we’d still have gotten married, though,” Ruth said, describing how her father liked to try to get them together.

Ruth took a nursing job at Avera McKennan in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after graduating college. She was a year ahead of Paul, and during that year after her graduation is when they started dating.

When Paul graduated with a degree in ag education, there weren’t any openings in the Marshall area for high school ag instructors. He took a job in Blue Earth and took Ruth along with him as his bride. They lived there for two years, until the ag teaching position at Marshall High School opened up.

“So, it wasn’t farming that brought us back to Marshall,” Ruth said. “It was Paul’s job.”

“Family was a big pull, too,” Paul added. “Simon was one year old, and we didn’t want his grandparents to be strangers to him.”

Moving back to the area meant that there was family around to help with the growing children, people who could be trusted to look after the growing cow-calf operation as well as the children.

That is when Ruth decided not to work quite as many hours.

“I went to casual,” she said. “I work four shifts a month (in Marshall), usually in the evenings, which works well with five kids, meals and homework.”

The Lanoues’ five children, Simon, 12; Mary, 10; David, 8; Rose, 4, and Luke, 3, attend/will attend Holy Redeemer School in Marshall.

Paul made a career change as well.

“I left the classroom in 2011 and went to MN West Community and Technical College. I’m a Farm Business Management instructor,” he said. “My students don’t come into the class room on campus. They’re adults with their own farm operations. We use each of their farms as a case study and work on how to make it better.”

Paul is also half-time dean of Farm Management at Minnesota West.

In spite of all three of their occupations, the couple finds time to be active in Farm Bureau. Paul was just elected treasurer of Lyon County Farm Bureau, taking over from veteran member Deanna Coudron. Ruth will be giving a presentation on preparing for and performing in Farm Bureau competitions at the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) Leadership Conference in Bemidji next month.

The couple qualified to become presenters when they won the national Young Farmer-Rancher’s Excellence in Agriculture contest two years ago and have been active leaders ever since. They enjoy working with students at Southwest Minnesota State University, teaching them there are farm organizations they can join when they age out of student groups like 4-H.

When Paul is off teaching, during November through March — when his students are available, he leaves the daily chores and repairs in the capable hands of his father-in-law.

“I still help with morning chores,” he said.

Ruth has become adept at presentations, especially after participating in a Washington, D.C. trip sponsored by MFBF where she, along with the regular delegates, were briefed on how to speak with the legislators about ag issues. Before that, Ruth admits that she wasn’t fully aware that Farm Bureau was for her, too, not just Paul.

“I really enjoy that it’s something we can do together,” she said.

The Lanoues continue to take on various active positions in Farm Bureau on the local level and plan to promote Farm Bureau, better farm management and understanding of the ag-based community to students well into the future.