Dairy Industry Leader Doug Maddox Passes Away
By Connie Kuber
Douglas Maddox, 75, Riverdale, CA passed away at RuAnn Dairy December 19, 2011. He and his wife, Matilda have four children: Steve, Julia, Patrick and Elizabeth, 13 grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Although his list of dairy industry accomplishments and involvement is incredibly long, his greatest love and source of pride was his wife and family, all of whom are a part of the dairy business.
A graduate of Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo, Doug and his family built a 1957 14-cow herd into RuAnn Dairy, Maddox Dairy, and Golden Genes, all world-recognized Holstein entities. Doug’s love of developing strong cow families, and his willingness to learn and experiment took him around the world, both a student and a source of “cow sense”.
Common practices of pre/post dipping, feeding TMR’s, and housing in freestall barns were pioneered with UC Extension at RuAnn. Maddox Dairy, housing nearly 4,000 milking cows was built in 1982, was California’s first large dairy of its kind. Doug’s breeding philosophy of “like begets like” was well-respected and his cattle sought after throughout the US and over 40 countries.
He was active in the Holstein Association at the local, state and national level, elected national president in 2007. He was also involved in DHIA on the local, state and national level. He gave leadership to the California Department of Food and Agriculture State Board and the California Milk Marketing Producer Review Board. He was a community leader within his church and school board. Recently he was a driving force of federal legislation to ensure dairy industry sustainability.
Services for Doug are at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Riverdale. Monday, Dec 26, Viewing 5 – 7 pm, Rosary 7 pm. Tuesday, Dec 27, Service 10 am. Memorials can be sent to: Golden Genes, 3899 West Davis, Riverdale, CA 93656
