MILROY, Ind. — Everyday for the past 27 years, Tony Beavers, 48, of Milroy, Ind. drove the same route to help Chuck and Jane Niccum run their grain and seed business in rural Rush County.

Until one brisk October morning, he didn’t show up for work. A dependable and hardworking employee of nearly three decades, the Niccums instantly knew something was awry. Minutes later, the phone rang, it was Tony’s wife, Kristine.

Tony woke up that morning gasping for air, he had been rushed to the hospital and passed away shortly thereafter. His family, friends, the Niccums and the entire community was in shock. “It was very sudden,” said Jane, 67. “We still really don’t know what happened. He has worked for us, loyally, for 27 years and now he was gone at 48 years old leaving a wife and four children.”

So what do small rural communities such as Milroy, Ind. do in times of tragedy? They rally.

They help each other. They show up with five combines, five semis, three augers and three grain carts to help the Niccums harvest the remaining 125 acres of corn left behind by the sudden death of their beloved employee.

“That’s just the way we do things around here, people just help each other out,” said Jim Wicker, 83, retired farmer and next-door neighbor to the Niccums.

“In this neighborhood, if it’s a business deal, we’re competitive. But if someone is in trouble, we just all pitch in and help out. That’s just the nature of this community.”

Once the sad news of Tony’s passing began to permeate throughout the tight-knit farming community, Wicker’s phone began to ring off the hook.

Local farmers wanted to help out in any way they could, said Wicker.

“The response was terrific, even some that we had to turn down,” he said, further adding that “since I’m retired, I had time to make the contacts and put this together. I was happy to help.”

Altogether, there were 25-35 people who showed up on Monday, Nov. 7 at the Niccums home farm.

“Tony was really Chuck’s right- and left-hand man,” said Jane, who explained that a stroke four years ago had left her husband paralyzed on one side of his body.

“Without him, we just couldn’t get it done.”

After waiting for Mother Nature to cooperate, farm families including the Wickers, Bacons, Kings, Mahans and Innis’ from Rush County began driving in to harvest the remaining corn acreage on the morning of Nov. 7.

“They started at 9:30 (a.m.) in the morning and pulled out by 2:15 (p.m.),” said Jane. “It took four hours to harvest 125 acres, fill five semis, unloading some into our bins and hauling the rest to town.”

According to Jane, everything cooperated on Monday, even the weather was nice.

“I brought my tractor, grain cart and auger to help put the corn in the bin,” said Brad Mahan, a neighboring grain farmer who volunteered his time and equipment to help a family in need. “There were already plenty of combines.”

Mahan reiterated that “we are a close community – this is just the type of thing we do for each other.”

“Several guys weren’t finished with their own harvest, including us, but were willing to drop what they were doing and pitch-in,” he said.

But the farmers in the field hustling to get the corn off before the weather changed didn’t go hungry. They stopped mid-harvest to enjoy a meal coordinated by several farm women in the community, including Wicker’s daughter-in-law Bec Wicker.

According to Jane, the meat was donated by Mor Grains – the Morgan family, and drinks and utensils were provided by Midwest Ag Finance. “We are very, very grateful,” she said. “This was a big load off of Chuck’s shoulders. It’s hard to focus when after 27 years of working with the same person, then with his limitations and physical disability, to even think about how to get the rest of the corn off. He was like part of our family.”

When Jane remembers the man that managed their grain and seed business for 27 years she said, “I will always remember his friendliness, his smile and his helpfulness. He always had a hello and thank you for me and he’d get me out of all kinds of computer problems.”

Chuck and Jane Niccum, who have lived and farmed in the area since 1977 owned and operated Niccum Seeds until they sold the seed corn portion of the business in 1994 and more recently sold the seed wheat and soybeans to Superior Seeds in Greenfield, Ind. The Niccums at one time farmed 730 acres, but cut back last year to 365.

“Chuck once told me if Tony goes, I’m going to quit,” Jane said. “But it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”

Jane mentioned that neighbors have already volunteered to come in over the winter and clean equipment, as the Niccums will officially retire from the grain and seed business in January when they sell all their equipment through auction.

“This is a good community to live in,” said Jane. “We are forever thankful for everyone’s help.”

She also mentioned that they will set up a trust fund for Tony’s family, in which several neighbors have already contributed “The family didn’t come out for the harvest, but we’re sure he was up there watching, excited to see everyone,” said Jane.

Other farmers and farm families involved in the Niccum community harvest included Bob Meer, Jeff Krieger, Matt Herbert, Tom Stiers, Scott, Jeff and Jeremy Morgan, Brandon Springmire, Alan Leifing, John Niehoff, Tim Kuhn, Dave Sliger, Teresa Meyer, Marilyn King and Kris Leifing,