A Man of Many Talents

Many Patagonians know Dean Fish as the flamboyant auctioneer who gets called on from time to time to lend his skills for a charitable auction. He is smart and funny and seems to know everyone.

But farmers and ranchers in the county know Fish as a go-to person who can help them solve problems, especially when it comes to cattle. From 1998 until recently, he held the job of county extension agent for Cochise, Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties, the person who brings university know-how to the farmer. Fish holds a PhD in animal science, but his expertise is based largely on experience. He was a 4-H child who raised a steer every year and once even a pig. The money he made selling his beef helped put him through college and imprinted him with a life-long passion for the 4-H programs.

He is now ranch manager at the Santa Fe Ranch, taking over for his father, who has retired. He also works for the Paula and Cabot Sedgwick Family Foundation. The Sedgwicks bought the Santa Fe Ranch in 1956. They have passed away, and their son, Tony, heads up the the foundation, whose mission is to preserve the land, advance research in environmental science and agriculture, encourage safe, healthy, active living, and share the importance and privilege of learning with the leaders of tomorrow, our children. The foundation owns Los Lagunas, a wetland between Nogales and Rio Rico that is a popular place for recreation and nature study. Its mission is to get kids involved in the out of doors.

In addition to these jobs, Fish owns the Anchor F Cattle Company, does livestock consulting, with reproduction and nutrition as two areas of specialization, and still volunteers at the county fair as the sale manager for the 4-H livestock auction and as “beef leader”–which means he counsels youngsters, who, just like the young Dean Fish, want to raise a steer as their 4-H project. He is passionate about 4-H, says it teaches kids critical skills, like public speaking, hard work, respect, dedication and caring. Needless to say, his own children are 4-H-ers.

Over the years he has been an integral part of the fair, sitting on the board for nine years, holding the presidency twice, and chairing the fair four times. At this year’s fair, he was honored for his long service. He received a big inscribed buckle, the perfect gift for a well-dressed cowboy who also teaches from time to time at the University of Arizona and can sell a pie for over a hundred dollars.

Auctioneering is a sideline for Fish. He says he fell into it when a friend asked him to head up an auction. “He figured I wasn’t afraid to make a fool of myself and I thought it would be fun.” His friend was right–Fish has a natural talent for the complicated, fast-paced business. With everything else that he is involved in, he would like to find time to go to auctioneer school to become licensed. He says the charity work is a lot fun, but he has his eye fixed on–you guessed it–auctioning livestock. It’s a profession that requires not just lightning speed of mouth and eye, but knowing how to urge people on, when to keep going and when to stop. A sense of humor doesn’t hurt, either.

The fair, of course, is sorry to see Dean Fish move onto other ventures, but it seems quite likely that he will always be around to help farmers, kids and charities. He is a great model for those 4-H qualities he mentioned: public speaking, hard work, respect, dedication and caring.