Story and photos by Alexis Baker
When her husband died, most people questioned Beverly Hockersmith’s ability to maintain a 500-acre cattle farm on her own, and sometimes she even doubted herself.
Hockersmith, an 87-year-old farmer in Lawrenceburg, owns and operates Rie-Al farm, and has been maintaining most of the daily upkeep by herself since her husband died in 2012.
She has loved the land since childhood and enjoyed all the rigorous and sometimes mundane work that came hand-in-hand with a farm. She described herself as the closest thing her parents had to a little boy.
Until her husband, Don Hockersmith, came along, her love was consumed by her family farm and surrounding herself with nature.
Beverly’s connection with the natural beauty around her remains strong, often overcoming the trials and tribulations of age, loss and loneliness.
Loneliness is one of the biggest challenges for Beverly since Don’s death. She combats this by keeping herself occupied.
She and Don spent 24/7 together — working, living and building a life. When he died, her world was turned upside down. The loss of a spouse is one of the biggest challenges one can face, and people often questioned what she would do without him, but Beverly said she knew her strength and knew she would be okay.
“Just before he passed away, he asked … ‘What in the world are you going to do?’ And I said ‘I’m a very strong person, but you’re not going to die,’” Beverly said.
In her free time, she goes into town to be with people, eats at a family-owned restaurant in her neighboring hometown and stays busy on the farm. Upon approaching her winding gravel drive, one would most likely find her on her lawnmower, fiercely striping the rolling hills of her front yard.
Beverly said she has recognized that the fate of the farm is out of her hands after she dies, but her grandson, Neale Shryock, and his wife love the land and the cows and help her out as much as they can.
While he was sick, Don told Beverly they couldn’t sell the farm. With his words in the back of her head, she turned down a $1.4 million offer, she made it clear the farm would be passed on to her only daughter, Donna Shryock. Beverly said she trusts her family will know exactly what to do when the time comes.
“He’s here. You know, I can feel his presence,” Beverly said. “Everyone said he would be so proud of me, but he was proud of me every day of his life.”