Osceola County Farm Bureau member and former Michigan Sen. Darwin Booher (R-Evart), who “had the heart of statesperson” and served as a steady hand for agriculture, say those who know him, died March 16 following health complications. He was 82.
Booher, who represented District 35 in the Michigan State Senate from 2011-18 and District 102 in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2005-10, served on the state’s agriculture committee during the 2013 and 2017 legislative sessions. He was also endorsed by Michigan Farm Bureau’s AgriPac several times as a friend of agriculture.
According to those close to Booher, he was always warm, always quick to extend a hand, and always one to listen to an agriculture concern.
He was also more than a boss, said Patrick Tiedt, who served as Booher’s chief of staff for 14 years in both the Michigan House and Senate.
“He always offered advice and looked out for the best interest in people,” Tiedt said. “He was a respecter of individuals, always curious, wanting to be engaged with the people he was serving and working for. He also loved working the land. He always said, ‘If you take care of the land, the land will take care of you.’”
And Booher always took care of you, said MFB Legislative Counsel Rebecca Park, who attested that Booher’s open-door policy made it easy for her and others to work through policy.
“What I remember about the senator is that his primary employment was in banking, but that he always had a passion for farmers and farming,” Park said. “He was one you could always go to and have a conversation about anything agriculture related. He was just one of those really solid, steady hands.
"He had the heart of a statesperson.”
Booher, whose family runs a seventh-generation family farm in Evart, also became Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program-verified in 2007 in the Farmstead System. Tiedt said Booher was one of the early adopters of the voluntary program, which helps farmers adopt cost-effective practices that reduce erosion and runoff into ponds, streams, and rivers.
In 2018, Booher became one of eight alumni inducted into the Michigan 4-H Emerald Clover Society, which honors former 4-H members for their leadership and community to make their “country and the world better places in which to live in,” MSU Extension wrote at the time.
Outside of agriculture, he served for 28 years as Osceola Township supervisor and assessor. He is a graduate of the University of Madison Banking School and Michigan Assessors School, spending more than four decades in the banking industry.
Booher is survived by his wife of 60 years, Janice; four children, Kimberly (RJ) Booher-Hammer of Evart, Chad (Amy) Booher of Evart, Jason Booher of Florida, and Meko Olman of Grand Rapids; six grandchildren, Logan (Lindsay) Hammer, Andrew (Makensie) Booher, Madison Hammer, Christian Booher, Aidan Olman, and Jacob Booher; one great grandson, Liam Hammer; step great-grandchildren, Michael and Cameron Triboletti; brother, Ernie Booher of Evart; in-laws, Robert Sherman and Chuck (Robin) Keysor; and many nieces, nephews, extended family and close friends.
Booher was preceded in death by his parents; siblings, Bonnie (James) McKay and Linda Sherman; and sister-in-law, Carolyn Booher.
