2026 South Carolina Hereford Association Hall of Fame and Sale Dedication
Donnie King and Rickey King never made a conscious decision to become involved with Hereford cattle – they were born into it. Their Dad, John L. King, Jr., purchased his first Herefords in 1946, which was 9 years before Donnie, the oldest brother, was born. The brothers agree that their Dad never asked them what they wanted to do when it came to farm work. His approach was “this is what we are doing and this is when we are doing it.” While the farm and the cattle have never been the primary vocation for any of the King family – it has always been the glue that held the family together and kept them close and working toward a common goal. It was a great way to grow up – having direction and purpose. Donnie and Rickey will both be quick to tell you that the lessons they learned growing up on a small Hereford farm in southern Greenville county has served them well both in their work and their family life. Like many other young people who lived on farms across this country the King boys got involved in 4-H and started showing cattle around 1968. At this time Rickey was only 8 years old while 4-H age started at 9. (We had some great County Agents then who helped the King
In 1987, Donnie took a leave of absence from Clemson and he and his wife Pam moved to Columbus, Ohio where Donnie attended graduate school at Ohio State University. He graduated in 1990 with a PhD in Extension Education. Donnie returned to Clemson in 1990 and continued working with the 4-H program until 2000. The final 10 years of his career was spent as a professor in Agricultural Education where he provided leadership to the Adult/ Extension Education component of the program. During his entire work career, Donnie remained actively involved with King’s Hereford. He and Pam for many years would load up every Friday and make the trip home so he could be there all weekend to help his Dad and Rickey with farm work. Donnie and Pam moved back to the farm in 2005 having remodeled Donnie’s grandparent’s home. This allowed Donnie to take on more farm duties especially with is Dad slowing down due to age. Since retiring in 2010, Donnie has remained active with farm work and has taken on more duties at church just completing a 3 year term as a Trustee. With Rickey’s retirement in 2020 the brothers were making good progress on some needed improvements around the farm. This, however, has slowed considerable due to Rickey’s health issues. Pam has helped to pick up some of the slack and has become very good help at weighing and tagging calves. She would, however, be willing to give this job up to any able bodied individual. Following high school Rickey received his education from the two prominent technical colleges in our area. He has an Associate of Science degree in Industrial Electricity/Electronics from Greenville Technical College and an Associate of Science degree in Animal Science from Tri-County Technical College. He also attended the American Breeder’s Service program to become a certified “AI” technician. He gave his name to local County Agents to promote his “AI” services after he completed the program. He was in business. His first “AI” client didn’t have a head gate. He said his cow was “tame” and didn’t need one. Rickey soon found out that a head gate was essential! After this episode of chasing a cow around a tree he asked all new “AI” clients, “Do you have a head gate?” Rickey quickly decided he did not want to turn his “AI” business into a one man rodeo! He found that many people did not have head gates so he soon limited his “AI” work to the family cows. Rickey’s son, John Wiley, named after his two grandfathers, was born in 1992. Rickey and John share the same birthday and a keen interest in shooting sports. John had great success in skeet shooting, winning state and regional titles. Rickey and John traveled around the county for John to skeet shoot in many competitions. At age 15, John won a Bronze medal (in doubles) at the Junior World Skeet Shoot in San Antonio, Texas and later was named a Junior All-American. During this time, he was approached about collegiate scholarships in skeet shooting. His major role on the farm now is checking cows when Donnie and Pam are away on vacation. Rickey worked for Duke Energy as an engineer and retired in 2020 after 33 years of service. During the latter part of his career he worked through colon cancer, chemotherapy, radiation, and multiple surgeries. He was cancer free for 14 years. In May 2024, during an ER visit for stomach pain, something was found in his hip area. In October 2024, he had surgery to remove cancer from his hip/pelvic bone, which doctors said was caused by the radiation treatments he received previously. Rickey had surgery to replace the pelvic bone with mesh. Since his surgery, he has been busy trying to rebuild his strength and flexibility. He is working on getting stronger and will hopefully walk with only the use of a cane soon. So far, he is cancer free again. The King brothers are very much appreciative of being recognized by the SC Hereford Association. For them, being selected to the SC Hereford Hall of Fame and the Sale Dedication is a great honor. They are proud to be following in the footsteps of their Dad who was a member of the initial Hall of Fame class in 2013. According to both Donnie and Rickey “the recognition is great but the friendships we have developed and the memories we have made by being involved with SCHA far outweigh any recognition we could receive.”
family a great deal.) Both Donnie and Rickey had successful years showing cattle at local shows – primarily at the Greenville, Spartanburg and Upper State Fairs. Their show string started with two heifers and over the years grew to six. Both won two trips to Chicago to attend the International Livestock
Show and Rodeo. This was a huge deal for two boys whose yearly vacations consisted of one or two nights in Cherokee or Maggie Valley. Also, during the late 1960’s and early 70’s changes were taking place on the King family farm. Their Mother (Sybil) gave up her chickens – both Donnie and Rickey counted this a blessing. Their Dad also made a change by transitioning the cow herd from horned Herefords to polled. This was not an easy move, but one that the entire family felt should be made. In 1973, Donnie graduated from high school and that fall attended Anderson Junior College.
From there he went to Clemson and graduated in 1977 with a BS degree in Animal Science. While at Clemson, Donnie participated in the Block and Bridle Club and in the spring of 1976 he won the Cattle Showmanship at the Little International. This event was held at the old “Brick Barn” and the judge that day was a Clemson legend – Professor Red Richie. Donnie followed this up by winning the Swine Showmanship in 1977 and still has the trophy to prove it. After graduation Donnie
began his work career as an Assistant County Agent in Kershaw county. He stayed in Kershaw county for 3 1/2 years and then had the chance to attend graduate school while working with the State 4-H Staff at Clemson – a great opportunity. Donnie graduated with a Masters of Agricultural Education degree in 1984, but continued to work on the 4-H staff at Clemson. A major part of his responsibilities was to assist the Extension Animal Science specialists in conducting educational programs and competitive events for 4-H youth in horse, dairy, swine, poultry and beef. He enjoyed this aspect of his job very much.
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