Wilbur Feagan
For many years Wilbur Feagan has been a leader in many of the Missouri and national dairy-related organizations including the Dairy Hall of Honors Foundation in which he established sixty-one endowments. He has given years of service as a board member on both the St. Louis Dairy Council and the Missouri Dairy Hall of Honors. Wilbur’s leadership, support and generosity to the Missouri Dairy Products Association made it possible to continue as a viable entity. And last but far from least was the leadership role Wilbur and F & H Equipment Company took supporting the Missouri Dairy Hall of Honors expansion and renovation. The Hall wouldn’t be where it is today without Wilbur’s leadership and support.
One nominator wrote, “We are so richly blessed having Wilbur and F & H in our industry. He gives from the heart and cares so much! I don’t know of anyone more deserving of the Missouri Dairy Hall of Honors Leadership Award than Wilbur Feagan!”
Feagan graduated in 1936 from the University of Illinois earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering with a major in Sanitary Engineering. He began his career as a milk inspector for the St. Louis Health Department in Cabool, Missouri. He soon had the opportunity to return to St. Louis to assume the position of Dairy Plant Engineer to assist pasteurization plants in compliance with the U.S. Public Health Service Milk Ordinance that St. Louis had adopted.
On completion of that objective, he became Milk Specialist with the Michigan State Health Department. When Kansas City adopted the U.S. Public Health Service Milk Ordinance in 1941, Feagan returned to Missouri to assume responsibility for all ice cream and milk inspection.
During World War II, he coordinated inspection by the Health Department and the Army to assure a safe and adequate milk supply to army posts and the Kansas City area. Following the war, he left public health work to assume the management of the Bonne Terre Farming and Cattle Company, a division of the St Joseph Lead Company. He later returned to milk sanitation work with C. B. Shogren of the Klenzade Company in setting up their marketing efforts for cleaning and sanitation supplies. Seeking more active equipment exposure, he joined Midwest Creamery and Dairy Supply as Sales Manager.
In 1959, Feagan and Paul Higley formed the F & H Food Equipment Company in Springfield, Missouri. The company focused on the safety and quality of food products. Through application of his knowledge and experience of food equipment and processes, he has gained an enviable reputation in the food industry. His firm continues to improve consumer confidence and faith in our food supply as they work with manufacturers and processors.
In1993, Wilbur and F&H Food Equipment Company, in cooperation with the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), created the Black Pearl Award, which annually recognizes a company for its commitment to corporate excellence in food safety and quality. The web site of IAFP states “Historically, the ‘Black Pearl’ has been sought after from Oceania to the Orient by European Lords and Asian Emperors alike, its rarity a sign of determination, its luster a sign of quality, its acquisition a sign of excellence. Thus, it was chosen as the symbol for our industry’s most coveted award.”
The Black Pearl Award is just one of many contributions. Mr. Feagan keeps active in the F & H firm as chairman of the board.
It is with great appreciation that the Missouri Dairy Hall of Honors, with the support of the dairy industry of Missouri, presents the 2011 Dairy Leadership Award to Mr. Wilbur Feagan.