Posted on August 23, 2021 at 11:00 AM by Emily Saveraid
Leo Mallie grew up in Cedar County in Eastern Iowa. While in 4-H, he was Cedar County Historian. After high school, he went on to Iowa State College in Ames and earned a B.S. in Agronomy. Upon graduating, he was hired by Dubuque County Extension as Extension Assistant – Youth Programs. His role was to visit the 4-H clubs in the county and work with other staff personnel with 4-H.
A few highlights of his short career include the following; Dave Rea of Fillmore won the 4-H Tractor Rodeo at the Dubuque fair and went on to the state fair in Des Moines, where he won and went on to East Lansing, Michigan, to compete in Nationals; the demonstration team of Eddie Gehl and John Dolphin going to State Fair in Des Moines; and his yearly chaperoning trip to the Boys 4-H Conference in Ames. Leo was well pleased with the many projects that the 4-H members exhibited and the quality of them at the county fair. One year there was a county-wide climatology project for all clubs where members had to record weather conditions, amount of rain fall, and other climatology facts for the year.
While he was with Dubuque Extension, Leo got the First National Bank of Dubuque to sponsor a trip for the 4-H’ers that showed dairy at the Dubuque County Fair to different events and places with dairy activities. The bad part about this effort was the First National Bank hired Leo as Farm Loan Personnel and 4-H lost their Youth Program Assistant. While at the bank, Leo still had the bank sponsor their 4-H dairy bus trip each year in the fall. He also served on the Dubuque County Fair Board. He was a judge for rabbits and 4-H demonstrations in other counties. In the 1990’s, he served in an advisory position for state agricultural bankers on the Agriculture Committee of the State Extension Council, where he was elected chairperson.
