Retired Trigg County Agriculture Extension Agent John Fourqurean will be remembered for his unwavering commitment to family, agriculture, and his community.
Those words best described John Fourqurean who passed away at the age of 84 Sunday at Trigg County Hospital.
John graduated from Sinking Fork High School and Western Kentucky University. A proud veteran of the U.S. Army serving as captain in 4th Armored Division until he retired from active duty in 1972. He dedicated his life to agriculture, youth education, and community service. He retired from the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service after a distinguished career of 32 years serving as an Agriculture Agent for Trigg County and as a 4-H agent in Grayson and Ohio counties early in his career.
Retired Trigg County High School Agriculture teacher and FFA Advisor James Ladd says he treasured his friendship with Fourqurean.
click to download audioLadd says he has fond memories of the time they spent together through many years of friendship.
click to download audioFourqurean’s son David, who returned as the Trigg County Agriculture Agent on January 1st, said his dad truly had a servant’s heart.
click to download audioRetired Todd County Agriculture Extension Agent Curt Judy described John Fourqurean as a mentor through his entire career.
click to download audioRetired University of Kentucky Beef Cattle Specialist Dr. Roy Burris talked about John Fourqurean’s commitment to the cattle industry and Trigg County when Fourqurean was inducted into the Kentucky Cattleman’s Hall of Fame in 2024.
click to download audioDr. Burris said John Fourqurean began night meetings at Ramon Oliver’s cabin in Trigg County and worked closely with a group of producers that quickly became known as the Cattle Cartel.
click to download audioCurt Judy summed it up well when he said John Fourqurean had a true love for Trigg County farmers and agriculture.
click to download audioJohn was passionate about farmland preservation and nurturing future generations through agriculture. His legacy includes founding the Trigg County Country Ham Festival, a celebrated community tradition. David Fourqurean says most will remember John Fourquurean along with Elaine Cliff as the originators of the Trigg County Country Ham Festival. He said John was an innovator when it came to the Ham Fest, he was always on the lookout for new ideas and things they could bring to the Ham Festival. It started because Trigg County needed something to be proud of; a way if you will to celebrate the Rich Agriculture history of this county and Country Hams was a great landing spot. In those days and still today Caldwell County had the Black Patch Festival, you couldn’t celebrate moonshine in 76-77 so the next best thing was country hams. David says he can remember him thinking of things to enhance the festival and including as much of the community as possible such as the old pig races that had farmers raising the pigs and then racing them, and he even had the Trigg County High Ag Department build a racetrack. And many of the things were paid for out of his own pocket, like when they built a smokehouse that you could disassemble and reassemble on the Bank of Cadiz lawn.
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