Ralph E. Krenzin came to Cornell in 1959 as an associate professor of
agronomy and extension agronomist. After
thirteen years of distinguished work in 4-H agronomy and field-crop
management extension with emphasis on
New York State’s corn crop, he retired in 1972.
Ralph was born in Kingsley, Kansas, on a wheat farm. As a farm youth he
became active in the 4-H beef cattle
program, exhibiting a steer that received first-place prizes in both the
Kansas City Royal Show and the Chicago
International Livestock Exhibition. In 1939 Ralph received his Bachelor
of Science degree from Kansas State
University. He met and married Esther P. Glanzer in 1941, while serving
as a county agricultural agent of Sumner
and Ellis counties, Kansas. He was a crop specialist and 4-H agent there
from 1939 to 1944, organizing 4-H youth
programs and, with the assistance of Mrs. Krenzin, women’s home
demonstration programs. In addition, Ralph
established farmer field trials of corn and small grains, especially
wheat. In a one-year period he organized sixteen
new 4-H clubs and attended eight hundred agricultural meetings. Ralph
also initiated the corn and small-grain
field days at the Fort Hays, Kansas, experimental station.
In 1944 Ralph undertook graduate study. After serving as a sergeant
major in the chemical warfare corps in World
War II, he received his master’s degree from Kansas State in 1947. In
that year he became an extension specialist
in forage crops and youth programs at Iowa State University, and he
continued to study part-time for his Ph.D.
degree, which he received in 1958.
At Cornell Ralph directed extension education activities in field-crop
management and was team leader of the
agronomy 4-H program. Ralph worked diligently in his friendly and genial
manner to instruct, to guide, and to
assist young people in their efforts to explore and understand the world
and themselves. He spent many happy
days as a judge for the 4-H program at county fairs.
In the early sixties Ralph took the leadership in revitalizing the
forage-crop exhibit at the New York State Fair in
Syracuse, serving as division superintendent for many years. He
initiated the annual Corn Congress farmer and
industry educational meetings, which continue as a feature extension
activity each winter. From 1963 to 1965
Ralph was extension project leader for the Department of Agronomy. In
the late sixties, on a sabbatical leave for
the United States Department of Agriculture as an extension and crop
specialist in Brazil, he developed forage
test field trials and crop experiments emphasizing new technologies.
Upon his return he served as faculty liaison
officer for the Cornell Peace Corps Training Program in Agriculture and
Human Ecology, in which capacity he
helped many students through the transition from college to Third World
missions.
Ralph Krenzin was a contributor to the interdepartmental publication
Cornell Recommends for Field Crops, which
is released each year at a series of regional educational field-crop
dealer meetings throughout New York State.
Ralph developed publications on forage crops and was a regular
contributor to many agricultural newspapers.
His service as extension specialist and leader was recognized by
membership in many agricultural and honorary
societies. He was an active and much-sought-after community and church
leader.
Ralph was a dedicated and loving family man. Surviving family members
are his wife, Esther Glanzer Krenzin, of
Ithaca, and his daughter, Kathryn E. Moore, of St. Louis, Missouri.
-- Madison Wright, Willard Croney, Reeshon Feuer, Cornell University
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From Margaret