Many sympathies to the family of Norma Duffield Stong Lyon, better known as Duffy Lyon, or the “Butter Cow Lady.” Duffy passed away on Sunday morning.

Lyon sculpted the famous State Fair Butter Cow from 1960 until her retirement in 2004.

Lyon studied at Iowa State University and was interested in becoming a veterinarian but the program did not accept women at the time so she went on to study animal science.

Her artistic talents were discovered by campus sculptor Christian Petersen during a winter festival at the university when she helped sculpt a horse and sleigh out of snow.

Lyon started to sculpt the State Fair butter cow in 1960 and continued to sculpt both the cow and other famous shapes including Elvis Presley, Garth Brooks, John Wayne and a butter rendition of “The Last Supper” until long-time apprentice, Sarah Pratt took over in 2005.

“We always thought we were doing a great job of bringing entertainment to the fair and we were. We spent several hundred thousand dollars on attractions and then we might go and look at Duffy Lyon and find she had stolen the show from us once again,” former Iowa State Fair Director of Marketing Kathie Swift said.

Her apprentice, Sarah Pratt said Duffy did more than just pass down the baton. “She was very generous with her time and she gave me so much. She is the only art training I had. So, everything I know and have learned is from her. She was very patient with me and taught me so much about art and about life,”

In addition to Iowa’s State Fair, Lyon’s work was showcased at state fairs in Illinois, Kansas, Wisconsin, California and Arizona.

She has appeared on national television shows such the “Today Show”, “Late Night with David Letterman” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”. Lyon’s work has also been featured in LIFE, Time, Newsweek and People Magazine.

Source: WHO-TV, Channel 13 News