The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Meet Your Neighbor

-By Deb Olson, Quill Reporter

Meet your neighbor Charlie Ford. Charlie was born and raised in rural Lomax and now lives in Stronghurst.

Charlie is the son of Mark and Olive Ford. His father Mark, farms outside Lomax and his mother Olive, enjoys helping to care for her grandchildren.

Charlie has a brother Bill who now lives in St. Louis. His sister Emily Harden lives on a farm near Raritan. Charlie's grandfather "Buster" Ford lives with Mark and Olive.

Agriculture has always been a big part of Charlie's life. He attended Southern High School where he was a member of the FFA. After graduation from high school he attended Southeastern Community College in West Burlington, IA. He graduated from SCC with an Associates degree in Agriculture. He went on to study Ag Business at Western Illinois University. Today, Charlie is a proud FFA Alumni member.

From 2004 - 2011 Charlie was a farmer and a seed salesman for Syngenta. From 2011 until recently he worked for Dupont Pioneer in Good Hope.

Ten years ago in July, Charlie married Sandra. They have two sons, Jeremy, age 6 who is in 1st grade at West Central, and Jake who is two. Sandra Ford is the Assistant Vice President at the Bank of Stronghurst.

Most recently, Charlie took a job as the Farm Loan Officer at the Bank of Stronghurst.

The Fords are members of the Stronghurst Christian Church

Charlie likes to spend time in the outdoors, especially hunting.

He is a Chicago Blackhawks fan.

Special vacations for Charlie and his family include trips to Colombia in South America to visit with his wife's parents.

He enjoys living in Strong-hurst and looks forward to raising his sons to be good members of the community.