Roy and Yvonne King

Roy and Yvonne King

Agriculturist Roy King was born in Dallas. However, his home has been Hopkins County since before he started school.

His wife, Yvonne, was born in Reilly Springs into a dairying family, and for most of her life has raised cattle. Both Roy and Yvonne King became strong community leaders and influencers, successfully balancing farm life and city responsibilities, their careers, and a blended family. Fittingly, the Kings were selected to serve as “dairy royalty” as the grand marshals for the 2023 Hopkins County Dairy Festival Parade.

“We work almost as hard now as we did before we retired!” Yvonne said in a phone interview from their home. “We raise Brangus cattle and hay. Taking care of the land year-round on two places is work, but it’s what we know best, and what we still enjoy. We are just country people, and when I got the call to invite us to be grand marshals, I said, ‘Surely, you can find somebody more interesting than us!’ But the Festival insisted, and we are very honored and pleased to accept. We’re looking forward to the stagecoach ride through town and waving at everyone!”

Roy King is the son of O.B. and Lucille King and was raised with two brothers, Ken and Glyn, at Brashear. He was hired in the 1970s by the City of Dallas as a Dairy Inspector for Hopkins County and its surrounding farms. He and partner Jr. Bearden traveled routes on a weekly basis. Soon, he was in the family dairy business himself, leasing the Astor and Robbie McKeever farm south of town, and milking up to 200 head in a flat barn. In 1985, he sold out of the dairy business, and married Yvonne Miller Glenn the same year. Over the next 30 years, Roy worked for Mid-America Dairymen as a field representative, for Federal Land Bank (now Legacy Ag Credit), and long-term as an agriculture loan officer at City National Bank in Sulphur Springs. He retired in 2018, at the age of 70.

Yvonne was born in 1953 on a family dairy at Reilly Springs. She and siblings Tonya, Jerry and Rodney “grew up in the dairy barn,” where their parents, James and Delores Miller, milked daily. They led the life of country kids. In high school, She was named FFA Sweetheart. The Dairy Festival was also big during her high school years.

Yvonne was previously married to dairyman Mike Glenn of Como; her twins, Brad and Chad Glenn, were born on the family farm. Yvonne first worked outside the home for NET Data as Hopkins County’s IT director, then, ran for and was elected to the office of Hopkins County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace, a position she held from 1999 until 2015. At that time, she retired back to the farm life she loves.

“Even through all those years of working a fulltime job, raising kids and farming, I still love cooking country meals like my mother did. I still make homemade ice cream frequently, and my sister does too. My most requested flavors are butter pecan and banana nut,” Yvonne said.

“Roy and I sold our hay equipment three years ago, and now take care of the cattle mostly by ourselves, hiring outside help only when we need to. We feel very blessed to be a part of Hopkins County’s heritage, and still farming and ranching at our own pace,” she concluded.