University a Toevs family affair

When Ian Toevs arrived at the University of Idaho in 1999, he had no idea his educational journey would become a family affair. Growing up in rural Aberdeen, he always worked in agriculture and family farming businesses. Toevs majors in agricultural engineering. Excelling as a freshman, he was the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) outstanding freshman of the year.

Above: All smiles clockwise from Gordon (top center), tot Rylee, Ian, Natalie, Elliott and Brenda Toevs. Photo by Mark LaMoreaux.

Meanwhile, back in Aberdeen, multiple years of low sales and a depressed farm economy drove Toevs's parents—Gordon and Brenda—to realize they wanted new careers. Gordon, a 1974 UI alum, enrolled in three masters-level classes at the UI at Idaho Falls in 2001 and found he was ready to go back to school.

It seemed an impossible dream. "We were still operating three businesses, owned a home, had two (high school) senior-class exchange students plus a senior of our own, and a sophomore in college," Gordon recalls.

Committed to finding her husband a new career, Brenda took charge. When Gordon went biking with sons Ian and Elliott in Utah, she sold the house. He was shocked, but also pleased to find himself homeless. "That left us no choice. We had to make a move," Gordon recalls.

Dad goes for his doctorate

Before summer's end, the couple took another giant step and sold their three businesses. Now their dream had nothing but green lights. After interviewing with UI soil biochemist Matt Morra, Gordon accepted a place in the environmental soil science Ph.D. program. The road was clear, the destination: Moscow. Again the family would unite. Ian found them housing near his residence. Family time and traditional Sunday dinners resumed.

Mom decides to teach; enters FCS program

Now, Brenda's turn. "I had always told my children that when they were grown, I would go to college," said Brenda, never dreaming she would go to college WITH them. Following her interests and with plans to teach at secondary level, she was accepted at CALS family and consumer sciences (FCS) program.

Children Ian, Natalie, and Elliott were "excited and proud to have mom realize her own dreams," says Ian. To give back a little of what she had given to them, they shopped for her birthday, purchasing a purple mechanical pencil, erasers, folders, paper, binder, and her very first backpack. The family tradition of Brenda escorting her children to their first day of school took a twist: The three now escorted mom to her first meeting with adviser Janice Fletcher.

"It was a delight to see this family at my door," states Fletcher. "Lots of parents accompany children when they first enroll at the UI, but I have never had children escorting a parent as she steps into the academic world. My bonus was that Brenda's daughter was also an incoming freshman."

Mixed reviews from mom, daughter

Together as freshmen, Brenda and Natalie entered the FCS program. "We actually had classes together and lived within a block of each other. Not every parent has that kind of opportunity," recalls Brenda.

Natalie sees something else, too. "We had child development classes together and mom would share excellent examples about childhood behavior. The only problem was, those examples seemed to involve me. Everyone in class was well informed as to how my childhood development fit into Erikson's psychosocial theory."

Natalie spent three semesters at the UI before joining husband Aaron Beltran with the U.S. Navy in North Carolina. Her departure this year leaves a hole for all of the Toevs. Natalie takes with her daughter Rylee, 2, the Toevs's only granddaughter and niece.

With his parents and siblings all students at the UI, Elliott, a senior at Moscow High School, jumpstarted his college scene with a dual enrollment program. Now all five Toevs are active UI students. Elliott begins full-time agricultural systems management studies at CALS this fall.

A landmark for CALS—They all excel!

"Having every family member for two generations in our college at the same time is a first for our college and the university," said John Hammel, CALS dean. "We are proud to have a family four generations rich in UI and CALS history. The Toevs are a very close family. Each has excelled academically and contributed to the success of their respective departments within the college."

Ian, Brenda, and Gordon all received UI Alumni Awards for Excellence in the past two years, recognized as the universitys top students. Also, Ian won an American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) technical award for his senior design project, the Visual Communication System, which aims to reduce field vehicle safety risks during harvest. This same project won an innovation award at the Engineering Design Expo and is currently going through the patent process.

Brenda is recognized as one of the UI's top 100 Mortar Board scholars. Gordon received the Dean's Commendation for Teaching Excellence as a graduate student. These are just a few of the Toevs many awards.

Despite busy academic lives, the Toevs continue to be close and supporting. Holidays and Sundays always find room at their table for fellow students from faraway lands or from next door.

What’s next?

Ian graduated in May 2004, followed by a June wedding to UI grad Vanessa Feraci. They head to Cornell for graduate school. After Gordon completes his degree and research into contaminated sediments in the Coeur d'Alene Lake are he plans a career in environmental remediation.

Brenda will teach after she and Gordon graduate in 2005. They all plan to celebrate Elliontt's graduation in 2008.

As Ian enters a new chapter, he looks back at this one: "It was a bit of a miracle that we all came together to live, study, and support one another. It is a time I will always cherish. I don't belive in the impossible. We are living proof. When it comes to family, anything is possible."

TOEVS: A tradition four generations deep

The Toevs-UI history dates back to William Manly Ritchey, Ian’s great grandfather, who graduated in 1918— the UI’s 16th graduating class—in animal husbandry. Great grandmother Myrna Kenward Ritchey graduated the same year with a teaching certificate. Brenda discovered this piece of family history while researching for the 2002 Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences Centennial. “I was looking through some old annuals, and there they were, Gordon’s grandparents as young college students! What a surprise. I had never imagined them in that role.”

A bigger surprise was that Myrna was a member of the same club in 1916 that Brenda is now serving as the 2004 president—the American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS).

Next came Ian’s grandparents—Gordon and Patricia Ritchey Toevs. Both students in the 1940’s when World War II interrupted their studies, Gordon Sr. returned in 1948 after military service to complete his crop science degree.

Great aunts, uncles, and cousins also attended the UI. One cousin, John L. Toevs, former superintendent of the Aberdeen Experiment Station, was a 1924 graduate in the department where Gordon now studies. The John L. Toevs scholarship, established as an endowment in his memory after his 1991 death, goes each year to an outstanding student. For the past two years, the recipient has been Gordon.

--by Barbara J. Smith

© 2004 University of Idaho, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.