Wednesday, August 11, 2021
The Wisconsin FFA Foundation has established the Jeff Hicken Memorial Fund, in honor of the State FFA Advisor who passed away June 18.
A former member of the Lomira FFA and former Wisconsin FFA State Sentinel, Jeff was a UW-River Falls graduate who began his career at Sauk Prairie High School as the agricultural education instructor in 1998. In 2006, Jeff began his service at the state level as the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Education Consultant and State FFA Advisor with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, a position he held until his passing.
Jeff’s legacy includes his family, his impact on agricultural education and FFA, and his service to numerous coalitions, committees, and boards, including the Wisconsin Farm Technology Days Board of Directors, National FFA Foundation Board of Trustees, National Association of State Supervisors of Agriculture Education (NASAE) Board of Directors, AgrAbility of Wisconsin Advisory Council, and School for Agricultural & Environmental Studies (SAGES) Foundation Board.
Thanks to generous pledges from the FFA community, the Jeff Hicken Memorial Fund was fully endowed at the $15,000 level when established and will continue to grow from future contributions. Jeff and his family were subsequently inducted into the Foundation’s Blue & Gold Society during a special tribute at the 92nd Wisconsin FFA Convention on July 7, 2021.
A matching gift has also been pledged, doubling the impact of new gifts given to the Fund, up to $5,000. Those who wish to contribute may send donations to the Wisconsin FFA Foundation at 1241 John Q. Hammons Drive, Madison, WI 53717 or may give online at wisconsinaged.org. For additional information, please contact John Hromyak at 608-831-5058, ext. 3.
All contributions given to the Jeff Hicken Memorial Fund will support Wisconsin FFA members and programs in perpetuity through the Wisconsin FFA Foundation endowment program.
Closing note: The CTE Team at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction would like to thank the Wisconsin FFA Foundation for making the Jeff Hicken Memorial Fund possible. Jeff was knowledgeable, generous, and tireless in his work on behalf of Wisconsin’s agricultural educators and education.