Dateline: December 25, 2036
Interview By: Val Arsvold -Executive Director Minnesota FFA Foundation
[This was a podcast that turned into an article in the agricultural section of the Minneapolis Star Tribune 2036]

VAL: “We are now sitting down and talking with Dr. Larry J. Klingbeil who is being honored by having a building named for him on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota and also at the Texas A&M-Commerce Campus dedicated to the advancement of Agricultural Education & Communications.
I know that most people call you ‘Doc’. May I call you Doc?“

DOC: “Yes, I’ve been called that for years. In fact, I answer to that quicker than ‘Larry’”

VAL: “You are now in your nineties being a long-time educator, entrepreneur and benefactor. How did you initially get started with the FFA and in the education field?”

DOC: “While I was in high school at Slayton, Minnesota I was active in the 4-H and FFA youth organizations and had a grand time and learned a lot. I was involved with some of the judging teams and activities being able to achieve the 4-H Gold Key and State FFA Degree.”

VAL: “What did you do when you graduated from high school?”

DOC: “I decided to go on to college, even though my high school counselor said I would never make it. [He had a broad smile when he recounted that occasion]. I may not have been the sharpest rock in the pile, but I outworked most people.

I went on to receive all three of my degrees from the University of Minnesota in Agricultural Education and Technology. I graduated with a B.S from the U of M in 1968 and started as an Agriculture Science Teacher at New Ulm, Minnesota.

The first year of teaching, I attended a district meeting of Vo-Ag Teachers and someone was there talking about what the MN FFA Foundation was and how it was helping out FFA Chapters and members to build their futures like it had done for me.

Then they asked for a donation. I thought, why not, a just cause!

I have been donating ever since and just recently received recognition from the FFA Foundation for over 65 years of continual donations. I also decided to leave a substantial legacy donation when I pass from this earth. They’ll have to wait awhile because I plan to live to over 100!!”

VAL: “We can wait, because we appreciate your efforts and involvement in helping the FFA.”

VAL: “You taught high school Agricultural Science for 17 years and an additional 4 years in Adult Farm Business Management at New Ulm. What did you do after that?”

DOC: “I decided to go back to the U of M and get a Ph.D. I figured that I would become an instant millionaire, [Chuckling]. After that was completed, I ended up as a professor at Texas A&M-Commerce being the head teacher educator and department head of Agricultural Education & Economics. I was in Texas for 13 years and then I was offered a job at the University in the same type of Ag Ed position as at Texas. I always wanted to get back to Minnesota, so back I went.”

VAL: “Over the years we have seen you exercise your leadership skills by being President of the MN FFA Alumni, Board of Directors of the Texas FFA Alumni, President of the Texas Ag Teacher Professors Association and also having a stint as President of the (NFRMBA) National Farm and Ranch Management Business Association. Boy that is a mouth full.”

DOC: “Yes, I have been blessed to be elected to those positions to serve others in those states and communities.”

VAL: “I know that is just touching a bit on all that you have done in this field, but more importantly, getting back to why we are here today; how were you able to become such a generous benefactor to these entities?”

DOC: “I was like all beginning teachers, ambitious and broke. But I was always looking for additional ways of making money. Like they say in the agriculture field, I was an ‘entrepre-manure’. Sometimes successful, sometimes not. I owned and operated a tropical fish store, collectible-coin-sport card store and a movie theater over the years.”

VAL: “That sounds like quite a lot! But how were you able to accumulate this financial legacy over time to become a generous benefactor? How did you do it?”

DOC: “I was busy, my family was behind me and I had fun and enjoyed working with people and fulfilling their needs.

There was a time when I became involved with a network marketing company called ACN. I struggled at first but then I ran into a gentleman from Kuai, Hawaii Mark Januszewski. He had a program I joined in 2024 called the ‘Master Key Experience’ (MKE).

This was a 26-week experience that took me from where I was to where I should be by working on my attitudes, brain structure and abilities. During the 26-week period we worked through many exercises with our brain to improve our thoughts, feelings and beliefs that lead to actions and positive outcomes. He told us that 100% of our success depended on making changes in our thoughts. His favorite comment was ‘Your world without, is a reflection of the world within (our subconscious).’ What we think about we become.

This course helped me to develop a vision of what I wanted my future to be and look like. I immersed that training into my ACN business and it began to flourish. With the substantial cash I earned, I put this into my other budding interests of real estate investing into single family homes and apartment buildings. I then began to put some of those profits into stocks and cryptos. They exploded!

As my profits began to progressively expand, I became a grateful giver and a grateful receiver. I found out that the more I gave, the more I received. That is why I have been generous with entities, such as the FFA and the Universities that I taught at, because of the impact that they have on humanity and all the individuals that they come into contact.

Over the years my finances multiplied over and over again to where I felt I was able to be a grateful giver and be a grateful receiver. I found that the more I gave the more I received. Not only in finances but in the pleasure of seeing the benefit others can receive from the donations. It is amazing how one concept taken into your conscious/subconscious can positively change your trajectory in life.”

VAL: “Well, I can see that the implementation of those philosophies are the main reasons you have done so well.

Thank you, ‘Doc’ for your insights, time and efforts for Agricultural Education. These legacies are appreciated and will benefit others for generations to come.”