It Happened in Crawford County: Andy Sulser carries on a family tradition

Mary Fox
·4 min read

Andy Sulser is son of Ken and Theresa Sulser. Andy’s dad met his wife Theresa through correspondence. She was from the Philippines, and they exchanged letters for six months. Ken flew to the Philippines, and they were later engaged. She returned with Ken to the USA in November 1999. Theresa quickly learned it's cold here in winter when they married in December 2000. Theresa had a few cousins in America, plus she met a couple of people from the Philippines who became a part of their wedding.

Andy also has a younger sister, Sheba — a graduate of Colonel Crawford who is attending Ohio State University to get a bachelor’s degree in communications. Sheba was 6 months old on her first trip to the Philippines, so her passport was good for a long time.

Andy Sulser became interested in farming as a profession in middle school, carrying on a family tradition.
Andy Sulser became interested in farming as a profession in middle school, carrying on a family tradition.

Andy has been to the Philippines about three times where he met grandparents, aunts and cousins. His mom’s family lives in a rural area. They farm some and also raise pigs. It’s different from what most people around here do for Christmas. They usually celebrate with both sides of the family, but his maternal side lives too far away. Andy says it’s cool to have the diversity from the other side of world. His grandparents on his mom’s side were able to come for a visit in the summer of 2022. They thought America was extremely large since back home they live close to many villages. They arrived at the Columbus airport and while driving to Crawford County, they couldn’t believe they were still in the State of Ohio. It seemed so big.

Andy lived a typical life, starting school in kindergarten in the Colonel Crawford district. He played football through middle school. In the eighth grade he started helping Dale Shawk throughout the summer on his farm. That’s what got Andy into farming. Also, Colonel Crawford schools offered a program for eighth graders in agriculture classes. He dropped football and stayed with the Ag program until after graduation in 2019 but continued doing what he liked — farming.

Because of the agriculture program and with the help of Stumph’s Heritage Farms, about 2 miles east on Shearer Road, Andy learned to farm. He worked there from age 16 to 19 and learned about dairying, milking cows, caring for the cattle and the haymaking process — the side of the business he liked the best. During that time, they had 50 to 60 head of cattle. Andy was so impressed with the business that when he was about 16, he bought five head of cattle from West Virginia and started a small cow/calf operation of his own on his dad’s farm about 5 miles south of Bucyrus.

Ken bought his farm in the 1970s and named it “Hopeful Hog Farms.” It was his dream. He had his own sows, bred them and finished growing the pigs on his farm. Andy said they eventually got out of the pig business, and they just raise cattle now. His dad, along with Andy’s aunt and uncle, still own the original Sulser farm.

Andy’s business is of great interest to him, and he also works full-time for Dan Grau at Grau Electric Ltd. south of Bucyrus. You can find Dan’s picture on the tables at Baker’s Pizza, but he doesn’t advertise for regular repair work. Dan does specialty work, like grain facilities, large grain elevators in the area, and industrial factories. Andy has been with Dan for three years, learning the skills needed on the job. Andy had a lot of people teaching him, which has worked out very well. He’s extremely happy to be in this type of profession.

Andy is engaged to Megan Shull, also from Colonel Crawford. They met through the school's Ag program. She graduated from North Central State College in Mansfield and works at OhioHealth Marion General Hospital as a physical therapist assistant.

Andy is extremely grateful to get to this place in his life, and his plan is to continue growing his farming operation, raising cattle and making hay. He also wants to keep learning more about his trade with Grau Electric. He’ll have to be patient and wait to find out what else happens in his future.

Go online for more of Mary Fox’s stories and photos on bucyrustelegraphforum.com. If you are interested in sharing a story, write Mary Fox, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 or email littlefoxfactory@columbus.rr.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Andy Sulser finds two loves in one school agriculture program