Pamela Ann Fuzak was born August 24, 1943, in Champaign, Ill., to Dorothy and John Fuzak, and grew up in East Lansing, Mich. While attending Michigan State Univ. (where she earned a Business Education degree), she met her soulmate, Frank Lessiter, in the university鈥檚 information services offices where both worked. After a brief courtship, they wed on November 23, 1963.

Among the couple鈥檚 early professional work together was a book they wrote and self-published from the basement of their Illinois home, called the Agricultural Travel Guide in 1971. The book鈥檚 publishing rights were subsequently acquired by Elanco and put into motion a new career path for Frank. It was the first of a handful of book projects in which she assisted her husband. Up until her death, she remained the company鈥檚 top copyeditor and proofreader.

Together, they raised 4 children, all of whom contributed to the company throughout its 4-plus decades. Their children include Debbie Hansen (Mark) of Onalaska, Wis., Susie Grabow (Brian) of Wauwatosa, Wis., Mike (Sandy) of Brookfield and Kelly Fitch (Quinn) of East Troy, Wis. She passed away in the same Brookfield home the couple purchased in 1972, when Frank accepted a move from Chicago to lead a soon-to-be-launched publication called . 

In March of 1981,  No-Till Farmer, Farm Building News and The National Farm Building Show and founded LM, a niche agriculture publisher. Pam was instrumental in keeping the business afloat through the ag recession of the 1980s and navigating through a forced divestiture in 1989 that resulted in a total rebuilding of the business.

For a time, the company operated with only she and Frank, and a part-time assistant. The acquisition of American Farriers Journal in 1992 marked a new beginning and provided the resources on which to expand again, and to apply their unique content-driven formula to other markets.

Today, the company employs 41 across nearly 20 global brands that span conservation agriculture, farm machinery and equine health. Its media channels include newsletters, magazines, in-person conferences, podcasts, virtual summits, broadcasts, books, marketing services and video.

鈥楢head of Her Time鈥�

As the company began its third decade, Pam was credited as 鈥渁head of her time鈥� among chief financial officers in the niche-media world. Specifically, she was noted for her early vision and diligence in establishing focused profit center P&Ls for each brand, early and advanced software use, cash-flow management, zero-sum budgeting and a highly disciplined expense management approach.

Pam was a model of how business and an enormous heart for people can go hand-in-hand. She provided emotional support for employees and was eager to provide help before being asked, especially in her favored 鈥渂aby-rocker鈥� roles.

In 2016, Frank, and son, Mike, established a scholarship in her name in 2016, the . 鈥淭hroughout her life, Pam has been dedicated to hard work, self-improvement and continuing education 鈥� the values that became the impetus for a scholarship program to encourage the recipients to use their God-given talents,鈥� noted Mike at the announcement at the 2016 LM Christmas party. Since that time, more than 140 scholarships have been presented to the children of LM staffers in pursuit of their post-secondary education.

Pam was always generous with her time and resources. She was particularly gifted in bringing peace and calm to others through her bright-shining personality, smiles and endless laughter, with a penchant for self-effacing humor.

Final Arrangements

Visitation is 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19 at Becker-Ritter Funeral Home, 14075 W. North Ave., Brookfield, Wis. A eulogy, followed by a funeral mass, begins at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, March 20 at St. John Vianney (1755 N. Calhoun Rd., Brookfield) with a luncheon immediately following at The Western Racquet Club, 800 Highland Dr., Elm Grove.

Memorial donations may be made to St. John Vianney Catholic Parish, 1755 N Calhoun Rd, Brookfield, WI 53005.

Read the complete article

Source: | Lessiter Media: FEMA Member since 1970

Frank Lessiter has served as editor of No-Till Farmer for 51 years, since the publication was launched in 1972. He and his wife, Pam, acquired No-Till Farmer and established Lessiter Media in Brookfield, Wis., to acquire the magazine in 1981. Today, the 40-person company also publishes Strip-Till Farmer and Cover Crop Strategies, and has run the National No-Tillage Conference since 1993.

The Conservation in Action tour is a homecoming for Lessiter, who was raised on a 6-generation Michigan Centennial Farm in Lake Orion, Mich., which he and his son Mike visited the week of the award ceremony. Lessiter is a dairy science graduate from Michigan State University.

Lessiter’s contributions to conservation ag鈥檚 adoption are profound. He and his publications were instrumental in disseminating the practical farmer-to-farmer knowledge necessary for no-till to grow 33-fold to the 110 million acres today in the U.S. alone.

Source: