Thomas L. Pfaff meets Ann Van Dunk in about 1960. He soon began writing letters to her. The two eventually married and started a farm.
Sarah Pfaff-Cavadini/For Agri-View
Tom Pfaff, far right, poses for a photo in 1943 with his mom, Grace, and his siblings.
Sarah Pfaff-Cavadini/For Agri-View
Tom and Ann Pfaff pose in 2019 on their farm in Wisconsin.
Sarah Pfaff-Cavadini/For Agri-View
Tom Pfaff has a desire to farm from the time he's a young kid but it takes a while for him to have enough funds to start. He, his wife, Ann Pfaff, and kids Sarah and Tommy eventually live on Pfaff's Prairie Farm.
Sarah Pfaff-Cavadini/For Agri-View
Tom Pfaff writes to his future wife from his new job at Wilson Meat Packing Co. in Albert Lea, Minnesota.
I don’t think a person truly appreciates someone until they’re gone. My dad, Thomas L. Pfaff, passed away six years ago at the age of 86 and I still catch myself thinking of him almost every day. Little things on the farm remind me of him, such as a new calf birthed out of one of his cows or walking by his tractor, now parked in our shed. Even the chicken catalog that came in the mail the other day reminded me of him. He holds a special place in my heart.
Sarah Pfaff-Cavadini grew up on a dairy farm in western Wisconsin. She became an elementary teacher and taught for more than 20 years in her hometown of Melrose, Wisconsin. She and her husband, Tim Cavadini, have six children and 13 grandchildren. They enjoy their 175-acre farm near Mindoro, Wisconsin, where they raise registered Angus and Simmental beef cattle, focusing on genetics, as well as horses and other small animals.
Tom Pfaff has a desire to farm from the time he's a young kid but it takes a while for him to have enough funds to start. He, his wife, Ann Pfaff, and kids Sarah and Tommy eventually live on Pfaff's Prairie Farm.
