Susan Mills-Gray Honored as Cass County Fair Grand Marshal
PLEASANT HILL, Mo. — The Cass County Fair honored longtime educator and community advocate Susan Mills-Gray as the 2025 Grand Marshal, recognizing her decades of service to families, youth, and agriculture across Missouri.
During the Oct. 13 City Council meeting, Interim City Administrator Nici Wilson opened the Fair recap by noting that this year’s honoree reflected the event’s purpose.
“This year’s Cass County Fair Grand Marshal was Susan Mills-Gray,” Wilson said. “When you read that definition of a county fair — celebrating community, agriculture and service — it’s easy to see why Susan rose to the top of the list to be honored as the Grand Marshal.”
Wilson told the Council that Mills-Gray “has called Cass County home for 31 years” and retired from the University of Missouri in 2021 after a distinguished career that began in 1983. “She served as an off-campus faculty member until 2013 and later as an on-campus professor and administrator until her retirement,” Wilson said.
From 1988 to 2013, Mills-Gray worked from the MU Extension Cass County office, where she “played a key role in numerous health-impact projects and community nutrition initiatives.” She was also a frequent guest on Kansas City television stations, “sharing her expertise on nutrition and wellness.”
Among her many accomplishments, Wilson highlighted Mills-Gray’s leadership in local public-health efforts.
“Susan co-led the community effort that opened the Cass County Dental Clinic in 2011 and then helped guide its expansion to a second location in 2015,” Wilson said. “She also represented southern Cass County on the Health Board Foundation’s Community Board and currently serves as treasurer for the Cass Regional Hospital Foundation.”
Wilson added that Mills-Gray “is a lifelong supporter of 4-H,” noting that she “was a 4-H member in her youth and has continued to give back as a project leader, Clover Kid leader and financial supporter of the annual 4-H Green Book Awards.”
“It was really great to get to know her,” Wilson said. “I’ve known Susan a long time, but to share her excitement and be a part of our event all week long was really special.”
Mills-Gray and her husband Bill live southwest of Harrisonville on their family farm. Her selection as Grand Marshal, Wilson said, symbolized the fair’s mission — to honor leadership, learning, and service rooted in Cass County’s rural heritage.