Troup senior selected for memorial scholarship

By LYNN MONTGOMERY | East Texas Edition

Audry Owens' daughters Jan Harris (left) and Kim Murphy (right) congratulate scholarship recipient Bo Steele. - Staff photo by Montgomery

April 21, 2005 -Bo Steele, a Troup High School senior, has been awarded the first Audry Owens Memorial Agricultural Scholarship, in the amount of $1,000.

The announcement was made at the Cherokee County Livestock Show in March. Next year, the scholarship recipient will be announced during the Audry Owens Memorial Ranch Rodeo to be held in April 2006.

This fall, Bo plans to attend Tarleton State University in Stephenville, majoring in Agriculture Services and Development. This choice will allow him to ponder several career choices including ag sales and services, feedlot operations and ag banking. Currently, the 18-year-old is leaning towards ag banking.

"I would like to be a loan officer for somebody like AgriLand Services, and I would like to come back here," Bo commented while watching the First Annual Audry Owens Memorial Ranch Rodeo in Mixon on April 10.

Bo said he was very surprised to win the scholarship but it was a great honor.

"I knew Audry all my life. He was one of the more respected men in the area and industry ... a good guy," Bo stated.

Audry Owens, "a cattleman's cattleman," worked at the Tri-County Livestock barn for 18 years, and had been in the sale barn business for over 50 years. He died in May 2004 for complications follwing heart surgery. The scholarship was created so Owens' "legacy would touch many more lives in the future."

The Troup FFA'er showed pigs for four years and commercial steers for three years at Houston. He has also won a $500 Smith County Junior Livestock Scholarship, and is the son of Doug and Cindy Steele of Troup.

The Audry Owens Memorial Scholarship is offered to any graduating senior who is going to major in any agricultural related field, according to Owens' daughter Jan Harris.

"It is not limited to any particular (geographical) area. (This year's) decision was a very tough one. All the applicants were qualified," Jan said.

Names were omitted from the applications, and the decision was based solely on qualifications and goals.

For more information about the scholarship, contact Tri-County Livestock at 903-726-3291 or www.tricountyls.net.