WILLMAR — A “quiet, thoughtful, strategic” man who helped lead a company that continues to shape the economic destiny of Kandiyohi County and beyond will be honored Saturday at Assembly of God Church in Willmar. He will be remembered at a service.
Ray Norling, 89, died April 23 at the Bethesda Grand in Willmar.
He is remembered not only for his dedication to his family and church, but also as a business leader.
The “quiet, thoughtful and strategic” assessment of Ray Norling came from his longtime friend Dean Johnson of Willmar, a former state representative and Lutheran pastor. Johnson noted that Norling’s partnership with the company led by the late Ted Huisinga helped make the region a national leader in the turkey and poultry industry.
Norling and Huisinga were awarded the Seal Agricultural Excellence Award, also known as the Nobel Prize for Minnesota Agriculture, in 2013 for their contributions to food production and eradicating hunger. They started a trend of investing in new technologies, taking risks, and establishing roots for the companies they lead, according to a summary of their roles recently shared with the company’s employees.
Norling, a native of Svea, has been in the turkey and poultry industry for 60 years, starting in 1958 when he agreed to “temporarily” help in the bookkeeping department of Wilmar Poultry & Egg Company (now Wilmar Poultry). I started my career above. The company was founded by his father, Alvin Norling, and partner Albert Huisinga.
Johnson liked to tease his friend Ray that he was an “executioner and administrator” and that Huisinga was “a visionary.” His partner was the second generation to carry on the relationship. Ted Huisinga was the nephew of the company’s highly visionary co-founder Albert Huizinga. Ray adhered to the adage “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” and, like his father, brought the necessary managerial talent to the partnership.
Ray Norling and Ted Huisinga in the development of Willmar Poultry Company and the creation and acquisition of other companies such as PALS (Poultry and Livestock Supplies), Farm Service Elevator, Willmar Poultry Farms, Midwest Data, Epitopix, Syntiron, and Nova-Tech. played a leadership role. Engineering, Life Sciences Innovation, and his MinnWest Technology Campus in Willmar.
These companies are responsible for millions of dollars in economic activity and hundreds of jobs in the area, said Aaron Bachman, director of the Kandiyohi County-Willmar Economic Development Commission. He cited the recent development of the 110,000-square-foot state-of-the-art Head Start and Next Nest Hatching facilities outside Willmar as the latest example of the innovation and economic impact both partners have helped create. He pointed out that it was not too much.
“He was very calm, calm and focused,” Torrey Noling said of his father, adding that Ray Noling was always very intentional.
These attributes were very necessary. The turkey industry faced difficult times during his father’s career, especially in his late 1990s.
“If we didn’t have a very conservative management and financial vision, we could have been one of the losers during tough times,” Tory Norling said.
The company’s commitment to innovation has helped it differentiate itself from many of its competitors. It meant taking risks.
“Not everything they tried to do was successful, but that’s how business works,” Tory Norling said.
If it worried his father, he didn’t show it. He described his father as an “unwavering” man who quietly accepted tasks and responsibilities.
Johnson said Norling and Huisinga enjoyed teasing and blaming the other person when things didn’t go well and moving on from there.
What drove him most? Tory Norling said his father always believed in hard work, something he learned from his father, Alvin.
Tori Norling emphasized that her father also prioritized family and was very proud of him. Tory Norling said he and his wife, Harriet, instilled in their children a strong Christian faith and an understanding of the importance of a spiritual life.
Ray Norling was a pilot, which is how Johnson got to know him. As a pilot, Norling took the then pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church to the airport in Preston, Minnesota, to attend Johnson’s pastoral ordination on June 5, 1972.
Decades later, Norling and then-Sen. Dean Johnson was sitting around a table with Ted Huisinga, Novatec founder Mark Gollans and Gov. Tim Pawlenty negotiating the purchase of the Willmar Regional Treatment Center. Their hope was to transform the vacant campus of the former state hospital into what is now the Minwest Technology Campus, a center of innovation and industry for the region.
Mr. Norling remained actively involved with the companies he led through 2022. Throughout his career, he has also been heavily involved with national and state turkey industry organizations.
Whether Ray Norling will be remembered most for his role in business or for his religious beliefs and love for his family depends largely on how people knew him. said Tory Norling.
“I think they all say the same thing: people with integrity, values, intentionality, focus and a strong sense of who they are,” he said.
A celebration of life will be held at Assemblies of God Church Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. Arrangements are by Harvey-Anderson Funeral Home in Willmar. His obituary is available online at www.hafh.org/obituary/Rayburn-Norling.