Dairy lost a Lyon of a leader When it comes to dairy leaders, Tom Lyon was a lion. However, Tom rarely professed it. Instead, he led by example and routinely advocated for farmers, for rural communities, and for public education through his own style of servant leadership. As a teenage boy, I remember standing in line at the close of a co-op district meeting well past my bedtime on a school night just to garner a few moments with the gifted public speaker I had heard that evening. My father stood with me and eventually introduced us. I was most impressed by Tom’s gracious demeanor as he made the conversation about me, not him.