BMancnttr Farming, Saturday, Saptambtr 10, 1988
The Couple Who
BY LOU ANN GOOD
LEBANON “If you want to
get ahead yourself, help others,”
Victor Zeigler of Richland
declares.
He and his wife, Grace, ought to
know: Their conversation bubbles
over with stories that prove their
philosophy.
“We may not always make
money, but we make many
friends,” Victor stresses.
But anyone who knows the Zei
glers also know they’ve made
some money. In 35 years they’ve
owned 16 farms. They don’t accu
mulate them; instead, they help
others get started at farming.
Where did the Zeiglers derive
their giving philosophy? Partially
from heredity and as the result of a
hard time when they lost almost
everything. “My dad and grand
father would give the shirt off their
back,” Victor recalls, but it wasn’t
until the Zeiglers lost almost
everything they had before they
became generous givers.
In 1952 Grace and Victor mar
ried. They farmed four years with
Victor’s dad before buying the
home farm. They had six good
years in farming and then disaster
struck. Brucellosis invaded their
herd when a cow was purchased
from unscrupulous seller. Victor
recalls, “I lost 78 cows from the
disease. At the same time Grace
was hospitalized for a month and
almost died of complications from
a hysterectomy.”
It was a time that Victor vowed
to become less concerned about
increasing his own wealth and
more concerned in helping mis-
_y - .ays has
many projects which she oversees, but she’s never too
busy to spend some time with her grandchildren.
children, all of whom are now marrl
sions. “I’ll never forget,” Victor
said, “one night before I left the
hospital, Grace took my hand and
said, ‘Let’s pray and live.’”
That night Victor flipped open
his Bible to the book of Job. He
read that Job’s wife advised him to
curse God and die after adversity
hurt him. In the end Job ended up
with much more than he had
started with. Victor contrasted his
wife’s advice to Job’s wife. Victor
decided things should end up bet
ter for them since his wife had such
a great attitude.
And things did get better. Much
better. Grace recovered after a sec
ond operation. And, suprisingly,
the Zeiglers found a way to keep
on farming. Although Victor was
resigned to getting a lunch kettle
and finding a job, he went to see his
banker.
The banker admonished, “You
had six great years in farming and
you were going great guns—you
can’t quit now.”
Victor admitted he desired to
stay in farming, but the disease had
totally wiped out his finances.
The banker admitted he could
not loan him 100%, but he chal
lenged Victor: “If you knew you
lost your watch in one field, would
you go to the opposite field to find
it?”
“Of course not,” Victor
answered.
“Then,” the banker said, “Go
back into farming—you know how
to be successful in that field.”
Victor humbled himself, went to
his dad and got him to sign a loan
for $18,000; the bank lent him the
remaining amount.
Keeps Giving And Getting
The Zeiglers’ farm is always open to entertaining others. Over the years, they have
provided a home for six foster children, eleven senior citizens, and nine refugees of
the fifteen oversees families that they sponsored. Here, Grace and Victor are sur
rounded with several of their grandchildren.
Things look off after that. By
1975, the Zeiglers owned 600
cows and farmed 1,000 acres.
The Zeiglers started purchasing
additional farms to help young
couples realize their dream to farm
In 35 years they've owned 16
farms. They don't accumulate
them; instead, they help others
get started at farming.
the land. “It’s better to give things
away than get them,” the couple
state.
Besides helping farmers get a
head start, the Zeiglers have dedi
cated themselves not only to finan
cially supporting many non-profit
organizations but also giving their
time. For many years they were
involved in a prison ministry and a
halfway house.
their own.
lave
faml
Their concern for others is not
always appreciated by society.
Victor recalls when they pur
chased a farmhouse to be used as a
halfway house, the neighborhood
balked. One neighbor complained.
“I moved from Philadelphia to get
away from that trash and now
you’re bringing it into my back
yard.”
Victor answered, ‘The only dif-
Where did the Zeiglers derive
their giving philosophy? Partially
from heredity and os the result of
a hard time when they lost
almost everything.
fdrence between Philadelphia and
here is 60 miles and 20 years.
We’re giving time and money to
help offenders before they become
hard-core criminals.”
Grace, who was raised in a fos
ter home, knows the importance of
9 Mtnesifiod
caring for others. Over the years,
the Zeiglers have provided a home
for six foster children, 11 senior
citizens, and nine refugees of the
15 oversees families that they
sponsored.
Victor is a firm believer in giv
ing pledges to ministries. “It takes
faith to pledge money and not
know how you’re going to get the
money you just pledged.” The Zei
glers tell story after story of how
they received the money to pay
their pledges. There are times
when die money comes in the last
hour before the deadline. For
example, one time they wrote a
check for $l,OOO in faith and when
they arrived home there was a
$l,OOO check on their kitchen table
for a debt they had written off
years before.
Another time, Victor, who was
financing some property for Teen
Challenge, encouraged his associ
ates to believe for a specified
(Turn to Page B 4)