Come to the Table of Plenty

Karen Hilgert '97 is a woman you want in your corner. She’s hardworking, kind, feisty, and bright. She served as a nurse for more than 30 years. She reared four college-degreed children. She's a colon cancer survivor. She has a tenacious, gutsy, faith. And she’s quite passionate about one of her favorite topics  – farming. 

"Without farmers, there would be no food," Karen says. "And these days, we're getting further and further away from our food. Agriculture is taken for granted, and farming is an often misunderstood and complicated process."

Karen’s husband, Robert, was one of nine children to grow up on the Hilgert Family Farm in Portage County; in 1981, he, Karen, and their four children took over operations even as Karen continued her work as a nurse. They also opened a farm market in their century-old barn, and became one of the area’s best known "U-Pick" farms (customers pick the produce themselves). 

"We don’t allow radios in our fields, so people often come for the peacefulness of our farm, as well as for the food. Once I saw a man sitting on a bucket in the field, and he said he was just looking, and remembering. Another woman told me that she came because we feed her soul as well as her body," Karen shares. "I love watching and hearing about the sense of accomplishment people – especially children – get from something as simple as picking their own vegetables. It’s good for them physically, mentally, and spiritually because there is so much to learn from farming the land."

As a nurse, Karen has worked to promote wellness since 1964. And nursing is where her story connects with Malone University – she was in the second class of registered nurses completing her BSN through Malone’s degree completion program. 

"I learned so much there," she says. "Even though I’m no longer working as a nurse, I use something I learned at Malone every single day, and I do not regret one moment of my time there."

She loved nursing, and it was difficult for her to retire – but her husband needed her help on the farm. 

"As we were making the decision for me to work with him, I was struggling with having the faith that God would provide for all of our needs. That Sunday, I walked into church, and we sang the song, 'Come to the Table of Plenty.' I knew that I couldn’t sing it if I didn’t believe it, so I sang it and decided to retire," she says. "A year later, we sang that exact song again, and I realized just how well God had taken care of us."

Faith is absolutely essential to survival for farmers, Karen explains. The greatest challenge is completely out of their control – the weather! 

"As a new wife, I thought that it was my fault if the weather was bad because I hadn’t prayed hard enough," she says. "I told my husband, 'If I could give you perfect weather, you could do anything!' And he said to me – 'What, and take away all the fun?' I'd been fighting the weather so hard, but the weather just is, and you have to work with it."

This year crops are especially abundant in Ohio because of the weather. So she's working in her community to teach folks how to can, freeze, and dry food – education that could prove particularly helpful with rising living costs. As a member of the Farm Service Agency, Karen also works in her community to promote programs, educate others about new policies and available federal funding, and screen requests for federal aid. 

So the next time you happen to buy produce in the Portage County area, you can feel fairly confident that Karen Hilgert has had a hand in growing it.

 

Editor's Note: We are very sad to report that Karen passed away on January 26, 2009, due to a recurrence of cancer. To visit her memorial website, visit here.