Despite having only joined in August of 2023, Ken Sury brings much-needed experience to his communications role at FVC, including more than 38 years working for newspapers.
A native Texan, Ken grew up in the small rural community of Fayetteville, near Brenham. His family moved to his grandfather’s farm just outside of city limits when he was 8. His father raised cattle and they had a decent-sized garden that grew cucumbers, corn, potatoes and squash. Plenty of summers were spent hauling hay.
Ken was in 4-H, and one year for a project “grew some pathetically small tomatoes,” he said. “At least, they had good flavor.” He was active in FFA during high school and raised hogs.
Both of his parents had a brother in the Air Force and his brother-in-law spent time in the Navy.
Ken and his wife, Jean, will be married 30 years this summer. Jean teaches sixth-grade science at River Valley Middle School in the Midway school district in Waco. They have two grown children, Elaine and Grant, and a couple of cats.
Newspaper Experience
Ken attended Texas A&M University and earned a journalism degree after determining that engineering calculus “was math I couldn’t quite wrap my head around,” he said. During his time there, he became sports editor of The Battalion, A&M’s student newspaper, which enabled him to cover the 1987 Cotton Bowl game between A&M and Ohio State.
After A&M, he worked for daily newspapers in Orange and Brenham, before moving to Waco to work for the Waco Tribune-Herald. He spent 25 years there, 12 of which included being editor of a monthly magazine.
Working with FVC
Ken’s role at FVC as Communications Specialist includes writing for the monthly newsletter, conducting outreach on behalf of the organization, and several other marketing aspects. This includes traveling every now and then, such as trips to the Big Iron Farm Show in Fargo, North Dakota, and FVC’s National Stakeholders Conference in Washington, DC. More traveling is on the horizon for 2024.
“What I have enjoyed about being at FVC is that I still get to use the skills I gained from my years as a journalist,” Ken said. “Now, however, I can share amazing stories about the members of FVC and have a part in the success of this organization.”
