Obituary of Lee Day

Dr. Lee Monroe Day, 90, of State College, Pennsylvania, passed away on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. He was born on his family's farm near Thayer, Iowa on February 25, 1923, the son of Samuel Gordon Day and Helen Swindler Day. His parents, his sister Ruth Day and his brother John Day preceded him in death. His education was interrupted by service in the US Navy during World War II. He earned his B.S. degree in 1947 and his M.S. degree in 1948 from Iowa State University, where he was a member of the Farm House fraternity. He married Joan Meredith of Des Moines, Iowa on September 8, 1948. He earned his Ph.D. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1953, prior to which he joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Wisconsin until 1955. Dr. Day served as an agricultural economist with U.S. Department of Agriculture in St. Paul, Minnesota until 1961 when President Kennedy's Secretary of Agriculture, former Minnesota Governor Orville Freeman, tapped him to join his staff in the Economic Research Service, and later on the Secretary's Planning, Programming and Budget Staff. During his time there, the USDA under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations established food stamps and the Appalachian poverty program, and expanded the national school lunch program. Upon leaving the Johnson administration in 1967, Dr. Day joined the faculty at the Pennsylvania State University. He became Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology in 1969. Under his leadership, the department was ranked in the top ten nationally in both disciplines. In 1974, he assumed the position of Director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development then located at Cornell University. He retired with the rank of Professor Emeritus from Cornell in 1988. He served on the Board of Directors of the American Agricultural Economics Association, and as President of the Northeast Agricultural Economics Council. While in Ithaca, he served as Chairman of the Planning Commission for the Village of Lansing, New York. Upon his retirement, his love of golf took him and Jodi to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where he served as President and co-founder of the North Myrtle Beach Citizens Association and as a member of Horry County Solid Waste Authority. His community involvement did not, however, prevent him from scoring a hole-in-one at the Sandpiper Bay Golf Club on August 23, 1993, or from playing countless rounds of bridge. Those two passions and a penchant for travel continued when he began his second retirement in State College in 1998. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Jodi Day, by his son, Michael Day and his wife, the former Carol Ann Stefanko, of Hagerstown, Maryland, and by his daughter, Merelee Garrison and her husband, Dr. David Garrison, of State College. He is also survived by six grandchildren: Thomas L. Day of Chicago, Matthew B. Garrison (Amber) of Columbia, Maryland, Anne E. Day of Boston, Scott Garrison of Hoboken, New Jersey, Melissa Harms (Craig) of New Castle, Delaware, and Dr. Kathryn Gloyer of State College, as well as two great-grandchildren, Tyler and Ryan Harms. The family will host a memorial reception in the Cub Lounge at the Village at Penn State on Saturday, May 11, 2013. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Meals on Wheels, 205 South Garner Street, State College, PA 16801 or Centre County Paws, 1401 Trout Road, State College, PA 16801. Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com.