GRANTVILLE, Pa. — Bernie Morrissey’s goal in life is to do what’s right. At age 89, he is still driven by that principle, including the past 17 years of unrelenting advocacy, believing “dairy farmers deserve a grassroots seat at the table.”

Morrissey was recognized with a Dairy Industry Service Award, presented Feb. 4 by the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, PDMP, and Center for Dairy Excellence during the 2026 Pennsylvania Dairy Summit in Grantville.

He was honored for his decades of work standing alongside dairy farmers as a trusted advisor, advocate, and volunteer, particularly during times when the odds appeared insurmountable.

Farmshine founder and editor Dieter Krieg nominated Morrissey for the award, citing five decades of knowing his character and persistence.

“You’ll have a very hard time finding a man with tenacity and integrity as outstanding as Bernie Morrissey’s,” Krieg said. “If he believes in something strongly enough, he’s going to be the best ally you’re going to find.”

Founder of Morrissey Insurance, he has long been respected as a businessman who built his now multi-generational business on persistence, knowing his customers, and helping develop programs to insure against financial disaster and make farm insurance affordable. Then, as a volunteer over the past 17 years, he worked directly with state and federal lawmakers to support meaningful legislation for dairy.

In both aspects, he understands what’s at stake for farm families because he has taken the time to listen.

It was during the 2009 milk price collapse that his advocacy shifted into high gear.

“When that crisis hit, Bernie said he wanted to get involved to help the dairy farmers,” Krieg recalled. “I never told him this, but I was thinking: ‘You’re up against a monster.’ But Bernie took this on because it was a cause he believed in. He has repeatedly told me over the years, ‘God is on our side.’”

Morrissey didn’t just lend his voice. He invested his own time and money, helping amplify grassroots efforts that many initially dismissed as symbolic.

For example, he was instrumental in marketing the hand-painted “Drink Whole Milk (virtually) 97% Fat Free” round bales created by Berks County dairy farmer Nelson Troutman in 2018, transforming them into a statewide and national message through banners, vehicle magnets, yard signs, petitions, and coordinated outreach.

That effort helped give rise to 97MILK, a volunteer non-profit organization with a separate board, dedicated to public education about whole milk.

Meanwhile, Morrissey continues to chair the Grassroots Pennsylvania Dairy Advisory Committee he had previously formed, which for the past 12 years worked to educate lawmakers to help restore whole milk as a choice in schools.

On this committee, Morrissey brought together volunteers from all aspects, combining dairy farmers and school foodservice and health professionals to work together.

“Every effort needs a bulldog like Bernie. He doesn’t get distracted, and he doesn’t quit,” said Farmshine writer Sherry Bunting in supporting the nomination.

Working closely with his longtime friend Rep. Glenn ‘G.T.’ Thompson, Morrissey was determined to improve the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act and keep it on the front burner year after year. The grassroots committee had countless collaborations, rallies and educational meetings, including right in D.C., and initiated a school trial under Morrissey’s leadership. They testified before the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee in 2021 and before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee in April 2025.

Morrissey often told lawmakers the whole milk bill needed to pass “while I’m still here.” When finally signed into law in January 2026, he traveled to the Pennsylvania Farm Show at Thompson’s request for a commemorative signing, culminating years of effort. In presenting the award, it was noted that, “Morrissey continues to drive the message to those in power who need to hear it. That kind of drive comes from his big heart, the genuine interest he takes, and his outgoing personality to engage with everyone he meets.”

He is quick to say, it wasn’t him, alone: “The credit goes to God, the volunteer members of my grassroots committee, all the volunteers who helped, and having a champion like G.T. Thompson, who never gave up.”

Asked what drives him, Morrissey points to purpose over recognition, to “always support what is good for agriculture. It is the backbone of our nation.”

Morrissey’s ‘true North’ is simple and personal: “My love of God, family and neighbors, including farmers,” he said. “They are hard-working people, and they are also my friends.”