Kern County CA Archives Obituaries.....Highley , Vernon Franklin     January 17, 2006
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The Bakersfield Californian
Highley, Vernon Franklin    
 
Vernon Franklin Highley 
July 18, 1933 - January 17, 2006 

Vernon F. Highley was born on July 18, 1933 in Carterville, Missouri and 
passed away on January 17, 2006 in Fresno, California, due to complications 
from cancer. Vern was president of Highley Associates, a federal relations 
firm founded in 1985, in Washington, D.C. The firm relocated to Fresno, CA in 
2000. He represented various organizations including Cotton Growers Warehouse 
Association, National Watermelon Association, Imperial County California and 
the Imperial Valley Conservation Research Center. Vern began his career in 
agricultural marketing when he served on the executive staff of Calcot, a 
cotton marketing cooperative in Bakersfield, CA. Ten years later, he joined 
the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture where he became Special Assistant to the 
Secretary of Agriculture, Clifford Hardin and eventually served as Deputy 
Chief of Staff for Secretary Earl Butz. He later headed USDA operations in the 
Western states and Pacific Trust Territories. He returned to the private 
sector in 1975 joining Plains Cotton Cooperative Association, in Lubbock, TX. 
In 1982, Vern was persuaded by Secretary of Agriculture, Jack Block, to return 
to Washington, D.C. to serve as Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing 
Service. He went on to become Executive Director of the Farmers and Ranchers 
for the Reagan-Bush and Bush-Quayle Presidential campaigns before forming 
Highley Associates. He lived in the Washington D.C. area off and on since 
1970. Vern attended high school in Holtville, CA and graduated in 1956 from 
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA with a B.S. in 
Liberal Arts Journalism. At Cal Poly, Vern was a member of the ROTC and later 
served as a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army at Fort Bliss, TX. Vern 
was Cal Poly Alumnus of the Year in 1974. He received numerous awards for 
Federal Government service and many achievements in the Agriculture industry. 
He was a Master Mason of Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 120, Alexandria, VA, A.F. & 
A.M. He served as a deacon and choir director at Mt. Calvary Community Church 
in Alexandria, VA. He was a member of the Christian Businessmen's Association 
and the Ag Roundtable in Fresno, CA. He is preceded in death by his parents, 
George Vernon and Mary Elizabeth Highley and sister, Darline McLaughlin. 
Survivors include his wife, Patricia Faye Highley; sons, Sydney Hayden Highley 
and his wife, Jennifer of Sacramento, CA, Stephen Franklin Highley of Fresno, 
CA and stepson, Daniel Lee Rakes, Jr. and his wife, Melody of Centreville, VA; 
sister, E. Colleen Ludwig and her husband, Richard of Holtville, CA; brother, 
Sidney G. Highley of Rosamond, CA, and six grandchildren. Funeral services 
will be held at National Memorial Park in Falls Church, VA on Wednesday, 
January 25, 2006. A memorial service will be held in Holtville, CA in the near 
future. 

Legacy.com
 
Published in the Bakersfield Californian on 1/22/2006.  


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