Charles City reunion planned for former Oliver/White Farm employees

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

It’s been more than 30 years since the Oliver/White Farm tractor plant closed in Charles City. Now, a couple of the people who used to work there think it would be fun for a bunch of the former employees to get together and reminisce.

Duane Kilby and Dick Neal are organizing the Oliver and White Farm employees informal get together, on Thursday, Feb. 29, from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (or as long as it goes on), at Dave’s Restaurant in Charles City.

Kilby said he worked at the plant for many years and it was the kind of job he thought he would eventually retire at. Then, in 1993, the plant closed and he still had a couple of decades he needed to keep working, so he moved on, to Winnebago in Forest City for a short while, then other places.

Kilby said he and Neal figured they better hold a reunion for the tractor plant employees now, while there are still plenty of them alive.

He said he isn’t aware of other reunions that have taken place for employees of the business that went through several names over the years.

Charles City held “Century of Tractor Power” celebrations for several years after the plant closed, according to Press records, at first on the cement slab where the factory once sat along E Street, then later at Andres Park. But none of those were specifically employee reunions.

Kilby said he is hoping for a good crowd of former Oliver Farm Equipment Co. and White Farm-New Idea Equipment Co. employees at Dave’s on the 29th.

“I hope we fill the place up,” he said.

He asked that people interested in attending give either him a call at 641-220-6270, or call Neal at 641-330-9228, so they can give Dave’s an idea of how many people to expect.

The Oliver Corp. was started in Charles City in 1929 through the merger of four smaller companies, including the Hart-Parr Co., which was located in Charles City and was one of the pioneers in the tractor industry. Oliver began producing tractors in Charles City in the early 1930s, expanding through the years.

In 1960, the Oliver Corp. was acquired by the White Motor Corp., which merged it with its existing agricultural division to form the White Farm Equipment Co.

At its height, the company sprawled across 23 acres and employed almost 3,000 people from Charles City and a wide area, Press files show.

The agricultural equipment industry faced challenges in the latter half of the 20th century, including increased competition and changing market dynamics.

In the 1970s and 1980s, White Farm Equipment Co. struggled financially, leading to downsizing and restructuring efforts. Eventually, in 1993, the company officially closed its doors.