Lew Meibergen
Lew Meibergen, age 88, previous Chairman of the Board and also President of Johnston Enterprises, passed away Thursday early morning, April 16, 2020, in the house in Enid, Oklahoma, reports profession organization IRPT (Inland Rivers Ports and also Terminals, Inc.) which offered the homage listed below.
Johnston Enterprises was established by Lew Meibergen’s grandpa, W.B. Johnston after the Cherokee Strip Land Run in 1893. Under Lew’s management, W. B. Johnston Grain Company (WBJ), currently Johnston Enterprises, ended up being the biggest independent grain business in the State of Oklahoma.
In 1983, after troubles in obtaining wheat to market because of railway price frameworks, Lew prepared an agreement on a paper napkin while resting at a table in the OSU Student Union, with bulk proprietor, Veldo Brewer, to buy a port center on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) off of what was after that Old State Highway 33. Lew’s understanding fixed the delivery problems with the railway. This provided wheat farmers the methods to financially deliver wheat and also various other grains to abroad markets and also consequently bring plant food upriver at a mostly minimized price. His vision had actually eventually raised the farmers’ web earnings in the four-state location, and also as much North as the Canadian boundary for many years. Decades later on, Johnston’s Port 33 ended up being the biggest mass managing port in the state.
Lew Meibergen was assigned by Governor Henry Bellmon to function as Oklahoma Commissioner of Agriculture in 1960. “Mr. Lew,” as those that recognized him passionately called him, offered 4 years as the supervisor of the National Grain and also Feed Association; commissioner of the Kansas-Oklahoma-Arkansas River Association; sworn in right into the Oklahoma Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2010; sworn in right into the OSU Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 2011; got the Citizen of the Year by the Greater Enid Chamber in 2020; offered on the State Chamber Board, Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center board, Board of Directors for the National Waterways Conference, and also Oklahoma Department of Transportation Waterways Advisory Board, simply among others.
Lew Meibergen has actually been a leader for the inland river sector. For years, he relentlessly brought the message to Oklahoma’s Congressional Delegation “hitting the hill” for much required financing for dependability of the framework. Congressman Frank Lucas mentioned it well, “For nearly his entire life, he was bigger than life. He was a leader at WBJ and in early years as Governor Bellmon’s first agriculture secretary. Between his involvement in the political process and his agriculture legacy, he will always be remembered for his outstanding leadership in Oklahoma’s agriculture community.” There were often times UNITED STATE Senator Jim Inhofe and also Lew would certainly discuss problems entailing the navigating sector, grain sector and also transport problems.
Steve Taylor, retired President of Johnston’s Port 33 mentioned, “After working for Lew for almost 40 years, he was the most respectful man I have ever met. He managed business with his heart and treated his employees like family. It was a great family to work for.”
Lew Meibergen made a massive distinction in individuals’s lives, and also all that recognized him will certainly remember him lovingly. Lew completed what most of us pursue while on God’s eco-friendly planet, to leave it much better than we discovered it, and also to make a distinction that will certainly live long after we are gone. Well doneMr Lew!
