Mary deBaca joined an Indiana 4-H club as a 10-year old and has been associated with 4-H ever since. It is hard to find anyone who has followed the pledge and the spirit of the 4 "H" goals for living and helping others more than Mary. Her project work frequently was selected to advance to the State Fair. She excelled as a junior leader and was chosen to represent Indiana at the National 4-H Conference. After graduating from Purdue, she became a 4-H leader in the community where she first worked. As a young adult, she was selected to participate in the International Farm Youth Exchange {IFYE) program and spent the summer in Luxembourg. The international experience sparked a life-long interest which guided the direction of her career and her personal interest in people.
When Mary's family came to Iowa in the early 1960's she became active in the 4-H program in Story County as a leader of the Palestine Powerettes. Completing quality projects, record keeping and communication skills were high on her list. Mary and her husband Bob's three children were active 4-H'ers excelling in diversified 4-H projects. They credit their ability to conduct meetings, do business planning and project management, and comfortably speak in public to years of attending and running 4-H club meetings, giving presentations and creating goal cards and record books. All participated in 4-H trips to Washington, D.C and son Luis, whose career is now Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking for the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D. C., was strongly influenced by these trips as well as his projects in Citizenship. Mary's daughter, Monica is Director of Hematopahology in Seattle, WA, and daughter Suzanna is Vice President of Wealth Strategies in Minneapolis, MN.
Mary continued as 4-H leader for 10 years and she joined the Story County 4-H Youth Program Committee, a thoughtful and dedicated contributor of innovative ideas, which enhanced the 4-H program and developed opportunities for kids. Since 2008 Mary has been a member of the Story County History Committee. Her efforts to educate and share with others was the driving force of a DVD produced by the committee. She served on a grant writing team, wrote the script, and was the voice for the DVD "Bridge from Past to Future 4 H" produced in 2010. For several years she has written a feature story on a Story County 4-H alum for the special tabloid printed at fair time. We can always count on Mary to bring new ideas to the group; she always gives of herself in time, talent and energy to help complete a project.
Mary has always been thankful for her 4-H experiences. She recognizes the potential it has for helping youth develop and become leaders of tomorrow.
