Family tradition
Steely turns passion into career
SEBREE
Walter Steely says he owes a lot to 4-H.
“When people are talking with me about my 4-H history and I mention bleeding green—you know, I really do, because without 4-H I wouldn’t be alive today,” Steely says.
And it’s not hyperbolic.
Steely’s parents, Leland and Mary, are both from Kentucky, but grew up nearly 250 miles apart. 4-H brought them together. Both joined the 4-H State Teen Council and met at a state conference. The rest, Steely says, was history.
In January, Steely was named development director of the Kentucky 4-H Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money to provide opportunities for Kentucky’s youth in 4-H programs.
Walter Steely was a part of the 2016 National Champion 4-H Livestock Skillathon Team. He is shown after the award presentation at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville.
Steely, a Sebree resident and Kenergy consumer-member, has 4-H connections that go a generation beyond his parents. His paternal grandmother was a 4-H cooperative extension agent in Calloway County, and his maternal grandparents were club leaders in Shelby County. The love of 4-H spread from his grandparents to his parents, and from his parents to Steely and his older sister, Sarah.
“She’s a little bit older than me,” he says. “So, when she first got to 4-H age, I would just tag along as little brother, just to see what it was all about.”
When he was 9, Steely found his passion in the one thing his sister was not involved in: livestock club. Both his parents had shown cattle, so he tried his hand at it and found a match.
Like his parents, Steely served on the 4-H State Teen Council and was 4-H state vice president from 2018 to 2019. He is a graduate of Murray State University and previously worked for Murray State and Kentucky Venues.
4-H is the largest youth development organization in Kentucky, and it reached more than 200,000 kids last year, he says. The organization is always looking for volunteers and support. For more information, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service.
“4-H has a wide range of opportunities—from agriculture to leadership to science, engineering and technology to Family and Consumer Sciences,” Steely says. “There truly is something for everyone.”
