A love for tractors and an admiration for John Deere green. That’s how you’d describe Steve Hamm, a John Deere mobile technician for 30 years. A father and grandpa, he was loved by many, as many in the community will tell you he was truly dedicated to his craft.
“Steve was a pioneer for that kind of knowledge. We really depended on him,” says Chris Roberson, general manager of Ag-Power, the John Deere dealership in Richmond, Mo., where Steve worked.
“He was a man of integrity,” says Dennis Estes, who worked with Steve at Ag-Power, but was also Steve’s friend and the pastor at his church. “He had a passion for what he did, and he was a person who served a lot of people.”
As a technician, Steve’s career revolved around service, but even then, Steve went above and beyond time and again.
“He lived to serve,” Roberson says. “He put everyone else above him or before him, and he was on call all the time. Whether it involved work or even personal family matters. He was always able to be reached and counted on.”
“You look at the communities that Steve served, people from small towns and everywhere else who called Steve, if it was 10 at night, Steve took the call,” says Estes.
Estes says for area farmers, Steve was a loyal lifeline in the field, providing a service no matter the time and no matter how challenging the issue was that needed fixed.
“This equipment is so complicated these days. And Steve pursued the passion of always learning,” says Estes. “If there was anything he couldn’t fix, he found out how to fix it, and he wouldn’t quit. He had the passion that made him pursue that until he got it. And I think that’s what really sets him apart.”
Roberson says on paper, Steve was a master technician, which is the highest honor you can receive as a John Deere technician. But he was more than that. Steve had a wealth of knowledge he passed on to others.
A man who dedicated three decades of his life to helping others was remembered in a remarkable way this past week. On a crisp, sunny Tuesday morning, those same farmers who Steve served for all those years found a way to show just how grateful they were.
“I’ve never seen a tribute for somebody that was more compelling probably than that tribute,” Estes says.
Tractor after tractor, combines with their augers out, all lined the road next to the cemetery where Steve would be laid to rest.
“I couldn’t help but think as we were doing the graveside service the effort made by so many people to be there,” Estes says. “As I looked up on the hill at all of the farmers, it was almost as if it was a mist because you could see the moisture in the eyes of so many of these people, many hardened individuals. Farmers who are used to being out in nature and fighting it, whether flood or drought or whatever it is, and through that toughness, they still had those kind of feelings for Steve.”
Farmers who never had the chance to say thank you or goodbye, stepped up to the call this week with a touching tractor tribute.
“He deserved every bit of that tribute. He didn’t ever ask for it. I hope he’s smiling down on us,” Estes says.
The touching tractor tribute was a nod to something Steve loved so much, as he took his final ride.
