Ralph E. Kirch

Ralph Kirch joined MSU Extension as a Branch County 4-H agent in 1950 and was in Kent County when he received a National 4-H Fellowship. After a year in Washington, D.C., Kirch returned to Michigan and was appointed Assistant State 4-H Club Leader from 1960 to 1961. For the next ten years, he served the National 4-H Foundation as director of resources specializing in financial development and public relations. He obtained over $30 million to complete a debt-free expansion of the National 4-H Center and served for five years as chair of the National 4-H Report to the Nation which included an annual presentation to the U.S. President. He then returned to Michigan as the Executive Director of the Michigan 4-H Foundation for seven years. In 1979, he moved to the Michigan Department of Agriculture as administrator of the Expositions and Racing Division overseeing a $14 million annual budget. From 1994 until he retired in 1996, he was executive director of the Private Industry Council for Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties. Kirch has served in nearly every office, including president, of the National and Michigan 4-H Agents Association (NAE4-HA and MAE4-HYS, respectively). He served as chair of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges Financial Development Seminars, chaired the Michigan 4-H State Policy Committee and is past-chair of the MSU Spartan Chariot Committee. He is a member of Kiwanis, served as president of the Georgetown Hill, MD PTA, founder of the Gull Lake Methodist Church and is an MSU Alumni Association life-time member. Kirch was inducted into the National 4-H Hall of Fame in 2006 and has also been honored with the Michigan State 4-H Alumni Award and with the Distinguished Service Award from both Michigan State University Extension and the Michigan Horse Council. In memoriam Dec. 21, 2012.