Salt of the Earth. (The Goodness of America).

West Burlington, Iowa, farmer Dewey Byar died of cancer in April 2000 at age 68. The shy bachelor was such a private person that he reportedly asked close friends not to publish his obituary in the local newspaper.

According to an August 15, 2002 Associated Press story, Byar "never spoke much, though friends said that he loved his neighbors for buying his corn, livestock and hay." He served in the Korean War, but other than that "friends say they can't remember Byar ever leaving Iowa." Indeed, other than occasional trips to town -- "often just to buy ice cream cones for his two dogs" -- he "rarely left the farm that his parents bought in 1951." Richard Osborn, who grew up with Byar and is co-executor of his estate, told AP that his late friend "loved the farm, and never found many reasons to leave."

According to attorney William Hildreth, who prepared Byar's will, it was also "a well known fact in his neighborhood that he did not like taxes that were levied by the local, state and federal governments. I know he also felt that if there was anything he could do to reduce as much as possible the taxes everyone here pays, then he was going to do it." So Byar included a provision in his will directing that his 310-acre farm was to be auctioned, with most of the proceeds to be placed in a trust which, as summarized by AP, ...