Wendell Dean "Buz" Vardeman

On November 18, 1927, Wendell Dean Vardeman was born to Kellie and Bessie (Shofner) Vardeman on their farm in the Bethel community of San Saba county, Texas. He was their ninth and youngest child, with one brother and seven sisters. His favorite toy was a hammer. He loved to push a big blue bottle around in the dirt and make engine noises, pretending it was a school bus. Papa Vardeman nicknamed him “Bus”. His earliest memory was of looking into the engine block of the family’s 1928 Whippet automobile.

As a child he invented a powered bottle washer and peanut sheller, showing his inborn aptitude to develop labor-saving devices. At age 14 he obtained his commercial driver license and drove the school bus. His 7th grade sweetheart, Joyce Pearce, was his one and only. They graduated from Richland Springs High School in 1946. They were married at the Pearce home on December 21, 1947. They moved to the South Plains on January 1, 1948 with an opportunity to begin cotton farming.

Their first home was on a dryland farm near the Slide community, rented from Bill and Sue Neel of Amarillo. It was a drought year, so they took side jobs. Joyce worked in the Slide grocery store, and Bus in the blacksmith shop. The shop owner re-nicknamed him “Buz”. He soon gained a reputation there for his modifications to farm implements. Buz and Joyce moved to another Neel farm east of Woodrow in 1949. It was covered in tumbleweeds and Johnsongrass, the house dilapidated, but there was an irrigation well. It became their home place for the decades to come.

As a result of Buz’s inventiveness and productivity he expanded his operation. In the early 1950’s, he was impassioned to eliminate hand-pulling cotton at harvest. His suggestions and well-reasoned explanations to John Deere engineers led to features used on their tractors, implements and harvesters to this day. In the 1980’s he built what John Deere called the first successful 8-row cotton stripper, and the first guidance system to assist driving it. He designed and built a faster, larger capacity version in his barn, the first time in John Deere’s history they went to an individual to build a prototype machine.

Modern cotton harvesters incorporate his original concept of producing round, wrapped bales on-the-go, ready to load on trucks for transport to the gin. He was involved from inception on the design of self-propelled sprayers. Even past 90 years of age, he was advising John Deere on modifications that improved performance. He holds several U.S. patents for his designs. He never would accept compensation for his invention work. He was a lifelong supporter of cotton cooperatives, serving in leadership roles. People from around the world visit Vardeman Farms to see a model cotton farming operation.

Though Buz worked hard he also played hard. He loved hunting, fishing, waterskiing, motorcycling (both dirt bikes and road bikes), flying airplanes, driving his motorhome. He loved antique tractors and steam trains. He loved learning, and he loved teaching others how things worked.

His greatest love was Joyce, who died in 2013. He is leaving a devoted family determined to carry on his legacy: sons Dean and Keith, daughter Holly and their spouses. He was “Granddad” to six granddaughters and three grandsons. He was “Great Vardeman” to six great-granddaughters and seven great-grandsons.

Video of the 2019 Texas Country Reporter feature story segment on Buz, entitled “Tractor Engineer” can be found on YouTube.

Memorial donations can be made to the FiberMax Center for Discovery, online at agriculturehistory.com