Milton Bliss This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Pioneer Press | 02/15/2004 | TOWN OF ASHIPPUN, WIS.: Lifelong learner and 'doer' going strong at 94

   www.twincities.com/mld/twincit - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/15/2004   Last Visited: 2/15/2004

   For Milton Bliss of the Town of Ashippun, learning has been a lifelong habit, which he intends never to let go. Never mind that he is 94 years young, and don't start that "never too old to learn" stuff - he doesn't think of himself as old.
   
   He has been a frequent guest student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus over the years and plans to continue to take courses that interest him in geography, classical music, geology, economics, philosophy, education and a host of other subjects.
   
   "I like to have back-to-back classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings if I can," said Bliss, who fills in other days of the week with various interests closer to his 160-acre farm, where he raises cash crops and once had dairy cows. He plans to take more classes this semester, if he receives permission from professors to observe class lectures. "Professors like you to wait a few weeks after the semester starts to find out how many students they have and things like that," he said.
   
   Taking classes at the university provides Bliss with information on a wide range of interesting topics without the hassle of completing tests but minus the opportunity to participate in lively class discussions.
   
   "I took two courses last semester, with two classes on Tuesday and two on Thursday. One was the Culture of Geography and the other was a music class that can best be described as the 'rise of the low and the demise of the high' which refers to the classics," he said.
   
   Although Bliss does not particularly consider himself among the elderly population, he freely takes advantage of a state benefit for seniors.
   ...
   Bliss has not had the opportunity to meet many other guest students observing classes, but that doesn't mean that they aren't there. "Last semester, I saw no one my age, but it's hard to tell. We all take notes just like the rest of the students," he said.
   
   "I am interested in lifelong learning, and I am a strong believer in practicing what I preach," said Bliss, who has never been refused permission to attend a class or voluntarily dropped out of any.
   
   Bliss acts like any other student, parking his car on a city street and walking among the thousands of other students heading to and from classes all over the campus.
   
   The campus is much larger than he remembers when he first attended the university in the 1930s. Back in those days, the enrollment was 4,000 students - now it is over 40,000," said Bliss, who became a faculty member after graduation.
   
   He was born in the Town of Ashippun and still lives on the family farm that his father bought in 1920. He graduated from Hartford High School in 1926 and then attended Dodge County Normal for one year. He taught at rural schools for four years in the Lebanon-Ashippun area while saving money to attend UW-Madison.
   
   Getting started in college was a struggle during the Depression years. Six weeks after he enrolled at the university in the fall of 1931, his $2,000 in tuition money was lost when banks closed their doors.
   
   He still managed to attend school, working for 35 cents an hour on campus.
   
   "I wanted to be a high school teacher when I graduated in 1935, but by July I was a member of the UW faculty with the farm radio service and teaching agricultural journalism. We had a daily half-hour radio program," he recalled.
   
   He never realized his long-held dream to become a high school teacher, but his background in agriculture launched an interesting career on the worldwide basis. "I am well traveled and lived in many places, such as Brazil, Saudi Arabia and India," he noted.
   
   In 1950, he moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an information specialist.
   
   He was farm director for NBC from 1952-60, commuting from his rural Ashippun home to Chicago where he was in charge of a national radio program called Farm and Home Hour.
   
   From 1961-64 he worked in the Milwaukee area for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service as an information specialist.
   
   He resigned from that job to return to farming rather than move to Omaha, Neb. He passed up Omaha because it was too far away but couldn't resist an opportunity for he and his wife, Ethel, to live in Brazil. His worldwide travel journey began after he accepted four separate contracts to do projects for the United Nations.
   
   Bliss' first contract called for him to be a lecturer in Brazil. That contract was followed by one in Rome as a food and agriculture representative. He planned to go back home and resume farming, but then he accepted another contract as an information specialist for the Ministry of Agriculture and Water for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where they lived for six months.
   
   His last contract for the United Nations was as extension materials specialist for projects in India, where he and his wife lived for 1½ years. While there, his job was training farmers in functional literacy. "I brought people from illiterate to the fourth-grade level so they could be introduced to raising crops beyond rice and wheat," he said.
   
   Bliss and his wife, who died in 1997, loved meeting people from all over the nation and world through their farm vacation business. During the years when they were active in farming, they invited city slickers to join the fun. "We had people from all over that stayed anytime from a day to a year," he said.
   ...
   Bliss does not consider his age to be a limiting factor in pursuing learning and other interests. "I really don't feel old," he said.

2. 2. Watertown Daily Times

   www.wdtimes.com/articles/2004/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/7/2004   Last Visited: 2/7/2004

   Milton Bliss, 94, pictured in his rural Ashippun farm house, is a firm believer of a lifelong pursuit of learning. He has often been a guest student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he audits classes. (John Hart/Daily Times)
   ...
   For Milton Bliss of the town of Ashippun, learning has been a lifelong habit which he does not intend to ever let go. Never mind that he is 94 years young, and don't start that "never too old to learn" stuff - he doesn't think of himself as old.
   
   He has often been a guest student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus over the years, and plans to continue to take courses that interest him in geography, classical music, geology, economics, philosophy, education and a host of other subjects.
   
   "I like to have back-to-back classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings if I can," said Bliss, who fills in other days of the week with various interests closer to his 160-acre farm where he raises cash crops and used to have dairy cows. He plans to take more classes this semester, if he receives permission from professors to observe class lectures. "Professors like you to wait a few weeks after the semester starts to find out how many students they have and things like that," he said.
   
   Taking classes at the university provides Bliss with information on a wide range of interesting topics without the hassle of completing tests but minus the opportunity to participate in lively class discussions.
   
   "I took two courses last semester, with two classes on Tuesday and two on Thursday. One was the Culture of Geography and the other was a music class that can best be described as 'the rise of the low and the demise of the high' which refers to the classics," he said.
   
   Although he does not particularly consider himself among the elderly population, he freely takes advantage of a state benefit for seniors.
   ...
   "I am interested in lifelong learning and I am a strong believer in practicing what I preach," said Bliss, who has never been refused permission to attend a class or voluntarily dropped out of any.
   
   Bliss acts like any other student, parking his car on a city street and walking among the thousands of other students heading to and from classes all over the campus.
   
   The campus is much larger than he remembers when he first attended the university in the 1930s. Back in those days, the enrollment was 4,000 students - now it is over 40,000," said Bliss, who became a faculty member after graduation.
   
   He was born in the town of Ashippun and still lives on the family farm that his father bought in 1920. He graduated from Hartford High School in 1926 and then attended Dodge County Normal for one year. He taught at rural schools for four years in the Lebanon-Ashippun area while saving money to attend UW-Madison.
   
   Getting started in college was a struggle during the Depression years. Six weeks after he enrolled at the university in the fall of 1931, his $2,000 in tuition money was lost when banks closed their doors. He still managed to attend school, working for 35 cents an hour on campus.
   
   "I wanted to be a high school teacher when I graduated in 1935, but by July I was a member of the UW faculty with the farm radio service and teaching agricultural journalism. We had a daily half-hour radio program," he recalled.
   
   He never realized his long-held dream to become a high school teacher, but his background in agriculture launched an interesting career on the worldwide basis. "I am well traveled and lived in many places such as Brazil, Saudi Arabia and India," he noted.
   
   In 1950, he moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an information specialist.
   
   He was farm director for the National Broadcasting Service (NBC) from 1952 to 1960, commuting from his rural Ashippun home to Chicago where he was in charge of a national radio program called Farm and Home Hour.
   
   From 1961 to 1964, he worked in the Milwaukee area for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service as an information specialist. He resigned from that job to return to farming rather than move to Omaha, Neb.
   
   He passed up Omaha because it was too far away but couldn't resist an opportunity for he and his wife, Ethel, to live in Brazil. His worldwide travel journey began after he accepted four separate contracts to do projects for the United Nations.
   
   His first contract called for him to be a lecturer in Brazil. That contract was followed by one in Rome as a food and agriculture representative. He planned to go back home and resume farming, but then accepted another contract as an information specialist for the Ministry of Agriculture and Water for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where they lived for six months. His last contract for the United Nations was extension materials specialist for projects in India, where they lived for one and one-half years. While there his job was training farmers in functional literacy. "I brought people from illiterate to the fourth grade level so they could be introduced to raising crops beyond rice and wheat," he said.
   
   He and his wife, who died in 1997, loved meeting people from all over the United States and the world through their farm vacation business.
   ...
   Bliss does not consider his age to be a limiting factor in pursuing learning and other interests. "I really don't feel old," he said.