Charles Fawl has always been a farmer.

“His life and his hobby is the farm,” said his wife, Doris, 70. “He was born to farm. He never wanted to be a fireman or a policeman or a dogcatcher. He just always wanted to be a farmer.”

Fawl’s family bought land near his Overbrook farm in 1859, and though the family tree has split throughout the years, it meets again on the 1,100 acres he has maintained since 1955, where he and his son, Chris, 50, have run a successful business.

Charles, 74, retired in 2005 but admits that is a relative term, because he still regularly works the land, where the family raises cattle and harvests soybeans and corn.

For their efforts, Charles and Doris received the Soil Conservation Award from the Kansas Bankers Association. The Fawls also received the award in 1970.

Doris, who worked the farm with Charles until 1976, places the success solely on his shoulders.

“I’m just as proud of him as I can be,” she said. “He just loves the land. He makes regular trips to the field to see how it’s growing. He is a good conservator of what God has lent us.”

Charles feels strongly about keeping his land fertile.

“The main idea is to keep the ground productive for the next generation,” he said. “If we don’t take care of it, there won’t be nothing there for our grandkids.”

The Fawls are most excited about a new pond, just dug in September.

Doris said she and Charles would wait for rain, then take periodic walks to measure how deep the pond became during rainstorms.

At almost 10 feet, the pond is more than halfway to its 19-foot depth.

Doris said she has wanted a pond on their land since they purchased it.

She grew up on the Missouri River, in Glasgow, Mo., and the sound of water is a throwback to her childhood, where she and her friends would watch rivermen maneuver down the Mighty Mo.

“I have dreams,” she said. “I look forward to a dock.”

Their son, Chris, is planning to stock the pond with walleye, bass and catfish, she said.

As for the land, it’s always been there.

But the Fawls have worked hard to keep it productive and beautiful.

In 1981, they purchased a plot of land adjacent to their property. It was a tangle of brush and trees.

Today, because of Charles’ ongoing efforts, they can see all the way across the land.

“It’s not done yet,” said Charles, who has cleared brush and trees on the land for the past 27 years.