Remembering Jeanne Charter, A Farmer Hero

We received sad news in the Farm Aid office this week. Jeanne Charter, a Montana cattle rancher who we had highlighted as a Farmer Hero in 2008, died in a car accident last Friday. Jeanne was a representative to the Montana and northern plains regional board of WORC - the Western Organization of Resource Councils.

WORC informed people of this terrible loss in their newsletter:

The WORC community has lost a tremendous grassroots leader, Jeanne Charter. Jeanne died in a three-vehicle accident Friday afternoon. She will be long remembered for her efforts on behalf of family farms and ranchers, renewable energy, clean water, and clean air. Our thoughts are with the Charter family, Steve, Ressa, and Annika. The Billings Gazette featured a moving article about Jeanne, and you can read it here.

State Representative Margie McDonald said about Jeanne, "The entire time I've known her, she's been on the cutting edge of creating a positive community that's very grass-roots and local and sustainable and renewable and ecologically sound... That's been a hallmark of her entire life."

Click here to read our Farmer Hero profile of Jeanne from 2008.

Our sympathies go out to Jeanne's family and everyone who was touched by her work.