AnaBel Peck: Farmer Pete’s Wife, Petunia, 4-H Homemaker of the Year

You may know her as Farmer Pete’s Wife, Petunia, or Clinton County 4-H Homemaker of the Year.

The names may change, but the person that is AnaBel Peck remains constant – she’s a teacher, gardener and friend to everyone she knows.

Especially to area youth.

AnaBel’s special ability to work with young people through 4-H made her a logical choice to serve as Grand Marshal of the 1993 Elsie Dairy Festival Parade.

Logical to everyone but the Grand Marshal herself, that is.

"When Margaret and Velmar Green called and asked me to be Grand Marshal, my first reaction was shock," the long-time Elsie area resident says. "People will look at me riding in that car and think, "Why is she there?"

The Greens – and everyone else in and around Elsie – know that question will never be asked.

"AnaBel has done so much over the years for so many young people through 4-H," Velmar says. "A lot of the youth she helped are grown adults today. She was a unanimous choice for Grand Marshal. If there’s one person you’d want to look to as a example of what a 4-H leader should be, AnaBel is it."

The 4-H program is definitely in the veteran 4-H leader’s blood.

"The kids around here probably think when I die my blood will be green," she says with the hearty laugh that she’s also well known for.

AnaBel has been actively involved in 4-H since she began the Elsie 4-Corners 4-H Club in 1946.

"We started the club with five little girls – it was a clothing club at the beginning," she recalls. "It grew to include other projects, and eventually the boys wanted programs so we started woodworking.

"I’d hate to tell how many projects I’ve been a leader for over the years – but I never could knit."

If knitting isn’t a forte, gardening certainly is. AnaBel’s 4-Hers annually produce vegetable and flower gardens that are recognized across the county and state. Last year, three of the four gardens in the state that were selected for national competition belonged to Elsie 4-Corner youth.

"We’ve had as many as 32 contest gardens in one year entered in the county 4-H fair," AnaBel says with a certain amount of pride. "And, we’ve had State 4-H winners many, many times."

Gardening, and her special love of petunias, earned AnaBel one of her many names. She was christened Petunia Peck by one of her 4-Hers.

The other title by which she’s known across mid-Michigan came as a result of another special talent – writing.

‘Farmer Pete’s Wife,’ her weekly column featuring folksy wit, first appeared in 1946 in the Gratiot County Herald. Since that time, her humor and down-to-earth comments have been appreciated by readers in Clare, Ithaca, and Greenville as well as by fans close to home.

"It gives me great satisfaction to write – even if it doesn’t always end up getting published," she says. "I jot down notes to myself when I’m out working in the garden – words and phrases just naturally come to mind."

She still uses the same typewriter her beloved late husband, Raymond, bought for her as a Christmas present soon after she began writing her column.

"Farmer Pete’s Wife is inside that machine," she says. "I don’t think I could get the words down without it."

At 78-years-young, AnaBel has captured plenty of honors from her varied endeavors: 1956 Child Study Club Woman of the Year, Clinton County 4-H Homemaker of the Year, and 1990 State 4-H Homemaker runner-up, to name a few.

Still, nothing compares to the joy she has received from her church, family and friends.

"I’ve had such a good life – the church and Lord have meant a lot to me," the Bannister United Methodist member says. "I’ve been lonely since Ray passed away almost 10 years ago, but I’m never alone."

Along with her extended family that includes just about everyone in the Elsie area, AnaBel keeps busy with her own children and grandchildren.

Matthew and Michelle Peck live "just around the comer," along with grandchildren Katrina, 14, and Matthew Charles, 10. AnaBel’s daughter and son-in-law, Marcella and Ken Tarrant, live nearby in Chesaning with grandchildren Ryan, 14, and Sandra, 6. Another daughter and son-in-law, Maureen and Danny Carlson, live in Minnesota with AnaBel’s oldest grandchildren Jenelle, 21, and Renee, 20.

When her family shares their mother with the community during the parade and Dairy Festival activities this weekend, one feature of Petunia Peck is sure to be present – she’ll be laughing and smiling.

"I’m really quite a happy person – and I think it’s important to laugh every day," she says with a smile.