Stauber Lives On Century Farm
Jim Stauber of Noel lives on a farm that has been in his family for more than 100 years.
He is the fourth generation to live and work on the farm, and four generations are now living on the farm together, he said. Jim and his wife, Joan, have been married 61 years and have two sons, Robert and Jim, who live on the farm along with some of their children and grandchildren.
Jim was born in 1930, one of four siblings in his family. He has lived in Noel his entire life except for two years he spent with the Marine Corps in southern California. In 1951 he was drafted by the Marine Corps during the Korean War. Afterward, he returned to Noel.
The couple married in 1955. Jim’s mother introduced them at the Noel United Methodist Church, they said. They were married at the church, which happens to contain rock quarried from their century farm. The term century farm is an award from the Extension Service honoring farms that have been in the same family for 100 years.
Jim’s father had a variety of animals on the farm — horses, mules and pigs. When Jim and his wife married, they decided to go into the milk cow business. They milked 50 cows on average, although sometimes they had as many as 70, he said. When their
sons were in high school, they became involved in so many activities it became difficult to keep up a milking schedule, so they switched to beef cattle.
Jim got a job delivering the mail and did that for 23 years. He has been retired since 1992. Now he chats with family members about things that are broken and tells them how to fix them.
“I’ve been a maintenance man, I guess. I fix things that are broken,” he said.
His son Robert works full time for Simmons, but is in charge of the farm.
Joan said, “I think a farm is a good place to raise children. The boys have always helped on the farm. They were raised to work.”
She added she and Jim have always worked together as a couple, whether they were baling hay or milking cows.
The century farm is 1,100 acres. The family also owns the land that the Noel baseball diamond is on and leases it to the city on a 50-year lease.
Jim served as the last president of the Noel School Board before reorganization and served one year on the McDonald County School Board. He was a third generation school board member, with his son Robert also serving after him.
Both Jim and Joan struggle with health issues, and they are thankful to have their family and friends nearby to help out.
“We feel so blessed to be surrounded by people we’ve known for a long time and friends and neighbors that are so helpful,” Joan said.