Father & Son: May Milling

By Cheryl Ann Wills


Nostalgia. It’s what Rod May, Sr. likes his family business reflects. With its worn oak floors and high tin walls, horse tack on hooks, and bird seed, horse feed and dog food bags piled high, stepping inside May Milling Feed Store at 606 Main Street, Grandview is like being wrapped in memories of long ago. Yes, nostalgia. Yet May Milling, part of a business started by Rod Sr.’s great grandfather in 1894, is a vital part of a changing community.

In 1930, the year Rod Sr. was born, his grandfather sold the feed portion of his feed, coal and material business to his son for $1. In 1934 Rod busied himself removing nails from the old wood of freight cars to build the roof of today’s barn. By 1939, when the mill behind the barn burned down, he was making deliveries with his uncle. Talking to Rod is like opening an Americana album. He is filled with stories, like the time his father visited President Harry Truman at the White House due to the scarcity of molasses and was waved in ahead of many others because Truman wanted ‘to see someone from home.’ He shares tales of national holidays celebrated grandly with community picnics, parades and concerts. Rod, a gifted musician, seriously considered professional music as a career, particularly big band or jazz. After college and the army, his locally-famous orchestra, The Rod May Band, set up on a Diamond T flat bed truck at 8th & Main during Labor Day celebrations, playing into the wee hours. But wisdom won over love of music. Rod chose helping his father in the family business for his life’s work. After all, it had been a part of who he was since age four.

Rod and wife Norma Jean have two sons, and are thankful they both live nearby. Rod wouldn’t change a thing about his life choices.
“Do what you love!” he would tell any young person. “You’re bound to do a better job than if you did something you didn’t like.” Rod May Sr. has proven it.

After graduate school, dad offered Rod Jr. a job. Rod, Jr. is a musician, too, playing trumpet since age 10. Professional music crossed his mind, but it didn’t seem a secure way to raise a family, now that he and Laura were married. He said yes to joining dad as a manager. He enjoys his customers thoroughly and has met people from the business and family’s distant past, opening his eyes to his rich history. It’s given him a sense of belonging to his roots. Rod Jr.’s advice?
“Education is still a good first option for any young person, because you really can’t know too much. But be prepared to take different courses, because that’s what life is going to be about.”

Working together all these years has been a delight to these two, They have learned to appreciate one another in greater ways than most fathers and sons have the opportunity. And music is still in their blood. Both father and son practice their trumpets daily. May Milling plays jazz all day long. As Rod Sr., says, “It’s the swinging-est feed store in town.”
You can visit Rod Sr. and Rod Jr. Monday through Friday 8 to 5 and Saturdays 8 to 4.