One week after father’s death, girl won fair with calf they raised

GENESEO, Illinois (KWQC) - The farmland of Emma Yerkey’s family is filled with memories.

“We raised it together and bottle-fed it, and that was my bucket-calf project. That was a really good memory that I have with him,” said Emma Yerkey, one of the leaders of the Ag Chapter for Gray Matters.

This dad-daughter project helped Emma take home the win, but her dad couldn’t be there to celebrate with her.

“I miss my dad, and I don’t want anybody else—or any other family—to go through that,” Yerkey said.

The memory is frozen in time forever, as Tim died by suicide two weeks later.

Years later, after he died in 2011, she still grieves.

Many families experience similar pain.

“It’s a huge issue. I mean, we’ve known at least three families this year whose loved ones died by suicide,” Yerkey s