Melvin Daniel

A native of Bismarck, Melvin Daniel spent 37 years as an agriculture education teacher in Glenwood, Lake Hamilton and Foreman School districts, with 33 of those spent at Lake Hamilton. He helped produce Lake Hamilton’s first FFA state officer, its first American Degree Recipient and trained 33 state-winning FFA judging teams. In his honor, Lake Hamilton has named its school farm The Melvin Daniel Lake Hamilton FFA Farm.

After retiring from teaching, Daniel worked six years as the director of the Master Gardeners program with the Garland County Cooperative Extension Service. He also had a strong passion for raising SimAngus
cattle and spent a large amount of his time building up a quality herd.

As a result of Melvin’s lifelong commitment to agriculture, he was awarded the Honorary Chapter FFA Degree, Honorary State FFA Degree and even the highest honor a non-FFA member can receive: The Honorary American FFA Degree. He was also named a County Agent of the Year and was recently inducted into the Legendary Owl Hall of Fame, which honors those who strongly and positively impact the future of Agriculture in Arkansas.

Daniel passed away Aug. 23, 2023