2020 West Virginia Wonder Woman Mildred Fizer

The mothers, the millennials, and the mavens. Changing our communities.

This is our seventh annual unveiling of 50 amazing women who are raising the bar in their communities, serving as beacons of light in their industries, and forcing change for the greater good. Meet this West Virginia Wonder Woman, Mildred Fizer, and many more that are creating a better West Virginia with their can-do attitudes and Mountain State spirit.

At the Helm of 4-H

Out of work with her Marshall College elementary education degree, Culloden native Mildred Fizer took a position in 1946 as a Cabell County 4-H agent. The work suited her and, in 1966, she became the first woman in the nation to direct a state 4-H program. Many soon followed around the country, she says—they just needed someone to be the first.

Fizer’s favorite part of 4-H was the camps, which she attended sometimes two or three weeks a summer. Her enthusiasm must have been infectious: State participation in 4-H increased from 35,000 to over 55,000 under her leadership. She served on national committees until she retired in 1978. Today a scholarship she established helps an outstanding 4-Her attend a camp each year.

4-H is just as important for young people today as it was in decades past, Fizer says, even as the population has become more urban. She believes it’s the organization’s emphasis on the child rather than on the animals raised or the other physical achievements that has kept the program relevant.

Of her many recognitions, Fizer counts among the most meaningful a 1974 Distinguished Service Citation from the National Association of Extension Agents along with her inclusion in WVU’s Order of Vandalia in 1989 for service to the University. Fizer turns 100 in March 2021. “Some days it seems a little too long!” she jokes. “But I think it’s special, of course, that I’ve endured this long.”