Norma Duffield Stong "Duffy" Lyon (July 29, 1929 – June 26, 2011) was an American farmer and artist nicknamed The Butter Cow Lady. She was known for creating elaborate

butter sculpture Butter sculptures are three-dimensional works of art created with butter, a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. The works often depict animals, people, buildings and other objects. They are best known as attra ...

s at the

Iowa State Fair The Iowa State Fair is an annual state fair held in Des Moines, Iowa, every August. It began in 1854 and has been held on the Iowa State Fairgrounds since 1886. It is based in the state capital Des Moines, Iowa over an 11 day period in August ...

from 1960 until 2006, when she retired. She also produced sculptures on commission for politicians and celebrities, as well as for other state fairs.

Early years

Lyon was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

on July 29, 1929, the daughter of Benton J. Stong, a newspaper reporter, and his wife, Elsa. Her grandmother, Bertha Clark, was a founder of the

Knoxville Symphony Orchestra The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra in Knoxville, Tennessee. The KSO was selected among a competitive pool of orchestras in 2020 to perform at the Kennedy Center as part of the ''SHIFT'' Festival of American Orchestras. ...

, and her uncle,

Phil Stong Philip Duffield Stong (January 27, 1899 – April 26, 1957) was an American author, journalist and Hollywood scenarist. He is best known for the 1932 novel ''State Fair'', which was adapted as a film in 1933, 1945, 1962 and 1976, and as a Broa ...

, wrote the book ''State Fair'', which was later made into three movies and a stage musical. She studied

animal science Animal science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of humankind". It can also be described as the production and management of farm animals. Historically, the degree was called animal husbandry and the ...

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

, because they did not allow women in their

Veterinary Sciences Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all animal species, both ...

program at the time.Longden, Tom (December 25, 2004)
Lyon, 'Duffy'.
''

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...

'' There she trained in sculpture with artist Christian Petersen.

Family

She married Gaylord "Joe" Lyon on July 22, 1950, in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...

, and they moved to

Toledo, Iowa Toledo is a city in, and the county seat of, Tama County, Iowa, Tama County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,369 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Toledo was founded in 1853 as the county seat of Tama ...

, to run their

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...

, Lyon Jerseys. The couple had nine children.

Career

In 1960, she took over the Iowa State Fair butter cow creation, a tradition since 1911. She later expanded to creating other sculptures, including

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

characters, a

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...

motorcycle, ''

American Gothic ''American Gothic'' is a 1930 oil on beaverwood painting by the American Regionalist artist Grant Wood. Depicting a Midwestern farmer and his wife or daughter standing in front of their Carpenter Gothic style home, ''American Gothic'' is one ...

'' by

Grant Wood Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891February 12, 1942) was an American artist and representative of Regionalism (art), Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known for ''America ...

and

the Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, '' The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic, 700 x 880 cm (22.9 x 28.8 ...

.Huffstutter, P.J. (June 27, 2011)
"Norma 'Duffy' Lyon, queen of the butter cow sculptors, dies at 81."
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' She also made busts of

Katie Couric Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. Since 2016, she ha ...

Matt Lauer Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is a former American television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and a cheese bust of

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

. Lyon appeared on ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'' in 1963, and was correctly identified as the Butter Cow Lady by two of the panelists, Kitty Carlisle and Tom Poston. She later appeared on ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

'' with a cow carved from cheese. She was the subject of a 2002 book, ''The Butter Cow Lady'', written by Brenda Mickle.

Death

On June 26, 2011, she died of a stroke in

Marshalltown, Iowa Marshalltown is a city in Marshall County, Iowa, and is the county seat of the county. With a population of 27,591 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the 16th largest city in the state. Marshalltown is home to the Iowa Vetera ...

, age 81. She was survived by a large extended family, including her husband, nine children, 23 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

References

# ↑ # 1 2 3 # ↑ Longden, Tom (December 25, 2004). Lyon, 'Duffy'. ''

'' # 1 2 # ↑ # ↑ Huffstutter, P.J. (June 27, 2011). "Norma 'Duffy' Lyon, queen of the butter cow sculptors, dies at 81." ''

'' # 1 2 # ↑ # ↑ # ↑ Lyon, Valerie (September 24, 2020)
"The Butter Cow Lady's Christmas: Recipes and Recollections of a Duffy Lyon Christmas"
Amazon POD. # ↑ Acker, Duane (January 12, 2018)

Booktopia. p. 39

External links

Lyon Jerseys family site
*

via American Jersey Cattle Association
The Butter Cow Lady's Christmas: Recipes and Recollections of a Duffy Lyon Christmas

Iowa State University Lyon Fund
via Iowa State University (ISU) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Duffy 1929 births 2011 deaths Artists from Nashville, Tennessee People from Marshall County, Iowa Farmers from Iowa Butter Sculptors from Tennessee Sculptors from Iowa Iowa State University alumni Artists from Ames, Iowa People from Toledo, Iowa 20th-century American women farmers 21st-century American women 20th-century American farmers