Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm founder Rick Hermonot remembered by family

Family members remember Rick Hermonot, founder of Moosup’s Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm, after he passed away unexpectedly at the age of 64.

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“He’d have a beer with a chunk of Cabot cheese. That’s the thing he loved. His family, his life,” Elena Hermonot said.

On a rainy Wednesday in Moosup, Elena and Katherine Hermonot told stories of Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm’s Rick Hermonot–a father, grandfather and husband.

“He was the best dad and the best papa, that’s for sure. He made friends wherever he went and his upbeat attitude, everybody loved him,” Katherine Hermonot said.

“He had a passion for farming. He had a dream to farm. That’s what he wanted to do,” Elena said.

Alongside his wife and children, that’s exactly what Rick did, planting his roots on Moosup’s Ekonk Hill Road.

“We had a little farm but he never thought he would own it, but it just happened out of the blue,” Elena said.

Through hard work, Rick and his family grew Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm into a staple of the community, serving thousands in the area while making sure to never miss a sunset.

“Every day he’d take a couple mile walk around the farm. Even if we had just processed poultry that day or something he’d go, 'I gotta go, I gotta go, the sun’s going to set,”' Katherine said.

 A lifelong farmer, Rick balanced growing his own farm with guiding many others throughout New England and beyond.

“He traveled the northeast working with other farms to see how they could better their farm or family planning, transitioning farms from generation to generation,” Katherine said.

 Now, it’s their turn to continue the family farm with Rick’s life, legacy and smile always in mind.

“The smile still remains. It was a line in a poem that he loved that our grandma wrote. It’s not one word, but the smile still remains,” Katherine said.

To honor Rick’s commitment to farming, the family is asking that donations be made to the Killingly Future Farmers of America chapter to go towards a scholarship in his memory.

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