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My friend Marlene Thomason epitomizes the country woman spirit. A strong person who sets a positive example through her actions and activities, she’s living proof that someone can be wellrounded—with a career, family and civic obligations—while still taking care of herself.
Raised on a ranch that has been in her family for over 150 years, Marlene knew that living in the country was the life for her. She married a rancher, a man named Doug, whose family had worked the same land for more than a century.
The two have been married for 47 years. They met at West Hills College in Coalinga, California, after Doug’s service in the Navy, which included deployment in Vietnam. Doug was enrolled while waiting for an opening at Cal Poly, where he planned to study horseshoeing. Marlene was working toward a joint associate degree in animal husbandry and agricultural business, and she became the first woman to
graduate with an ag degree from West Hills.
Doug and Marlene are cattle ranchers and dryland farmers with 150 head of “mama cows” in their crossbred cow-calf operation. Marlene has bottlefed many a calf, and pulls calves if the cows are having trouble giving birth on their own. The two usually brand calves on a table rather than roping them, and Marlene can work her way around an animal with ease.
Marlene is just as engaged in the Parkfield community as she is on the ranch. She has served
on the school board for 24 years, the cemetery board for 40, and has been involved in the Parkfield Community Club for 47 years, sitting on the board since 1973.
Marlene volunteered at the Monterey County Free Library’s Parkfield branch for three years in the mid-1980s before joining the staff. Later, in 1998, she took over as Parkfield’s branch head. When I became her supervisor 12 years ago, the first thing she did was to take me on a tour of the southern end of Monterey County. She is well-versed in the rich history of the area as well as its wilderness, flora and fauna.
Lots of women live out in the country, but Marlene’s rural life is truly inspirational. She likes to say they are “32 miles from milk” (the grocery store). It’s a long commute to reach any of the offfarm activities she undertakes,
but this doesn’t deter her.
Marlene was a member of 4-H for nine years before becoming a 4-H leader. She’s now in her 50th year in that capacity. After her 40th year, one of her 4-H families calculated that she had spent 19 months of her life at
❝Marlene’s rural life is truly inspirational.❞ —ROBIN CAUNTAY
county and district fairgrounds working with children. Imagine the new total after the ensuing 10 years—and she’s still at it!
Together, Marlene and Doug raised two children, imbuing them both with an appreciation for the country life. Their son, Douglas, has trained horses and is a certified journeyman farrier. Their daughter, Lilla, is a school bus driver and a labradoodle breeder; like her mom, she’s also a 4-H leader. Lilla has hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and enjoys driving a carriage drawn by a horse she trained herself. And Doug and Marlene’s grandchild, Idria, had a beloved chicken named Hank for her first pet.
When Marlene was younger, she rode horseback to gather and sort cattle, but now she drives a pickup. The truck, with its horn and a few hay bales in the back, can bait a lot of cattle into the corral. She also feeds hay on dry years or in the fall before the new feed has started. Once the hay is loaded, it’s simple enough to drag it off with a hook, cut the bales and spread the hay. When they feed 100 head of cattle in one pasture, they feed about 1 ton per day.
Of course, Marlene and Doug have a separate workload for their dryland farm, where they grow barley hay and sometimes wheat or safflower. While Doug swaths and hauls the hay in a harrow bed, Marlene bales—as long as the equipment holds together. Once it breaks down, it’s time for hubby to help.
The drought here means it’s necessary to transport water, filling a 300-gallon tank from a well and hauling it to various distant troughs. To mitigate this process, they recently installed a solar pump in an existing well and laid some pipeline with additional troughs.
Marlene cultivates a vegetable garden and keeps chickens for fresh eggs. She cans, preserves and bakes, and has won prizes in the Salinas Valley Fair. She loves treating her colleagues to homemade candy; her specialties include raspberry truffles, mints, toffee, chocolate-covered peanut butter eggs and peanut brittle.
She has also been known to craft elaborate cakes, including the standout she made for her son’s wedding—with fondant horseshoes and a tooled leather design with buck stitching.
With her lifelong commitment to family, community activities and public service, Marlene has touched the lives of so many. If her story doesn’t say Country Woman of the Year, I don’t know what does.