We at Nebraska Farmer have lost a close friend and colleague and Nebraska has lost a dedicated agricultural journalist.

Ann Toner Gottwald died Feb. 6 after a battle with cancer.

She spent more nearly 35 years as a journalist, most of that time as a farm writer covering every aspect of Midwest and Nebraska agriculture. Her byline was well known across Nebraska.

Ann grew up in Humboldt, Iowa, and graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in science journalism.

After short stints in newspapers in Florida, Iowa and Minnesota, she became a farm writer for the Lincoln Journal-Star, the Kansas City Star and the Omaha World-Herald before joining the Nebraska Farmer staff as field editor in 1997.

Ann had a strong interest in and love for agriculture, and was adept at writing on any subject, from human interest, to rural life, to crop and livestock production, to issues and technology.

As her editor, I always marveled how she could turn a phrase and come up with a clever lead paragraph to draw readers into her articles. While editing her copy, I often found myself thinking, “I wished I would have thought of that.”

She had a great knack for making complicated subjects easily understood by her readers.

She won numerous awards during her career, as a member of the American Agriculture Editors Association, the Nebraska Press Women, and the North American Agricultural Journalists. In 1985, she served as president of the North American Agricultural Journalists and in 1983 was NAAJ’s Farm Editor of the Year while with the Lincoln Journal-Star.

She enjoyed reading and we talked often of books and authors and many other topics.

In the office, we experienced her wry, subtle sense of humor. Some of that humor came in her description of the antics of the animals on her farm, the goats, horses and pets, as well as the not-so-friendly night predators that ventured into the barn.

Most of all we knew the love Ann had for her family, husband, Allen, and son Alex.

A proud moment for her several weeks before her death was the announcement that her son, Alex, had earned his Eagle Scout award, the highest ranking with the Boy Scouts of America.