Cover Feature: By Daniel J. Linss cooked and cleaned for eleven people each and every day, which was a monumental task, but it was just “what had to be done” as she said. When moving to Tolleson, Jake DeWitt was hired to move their cows, and he had some nice trucks. David and one of his brothers would go with him sometimes and ride in the truck, which they remember as being a Kenworth “Bullnose” (although it was later realized that it was most likely a Peterbilt Bubblenose). Either way, the brothers fell in love with “Bullnose” Kenworths, and would later buy the one seen here to fulfill their lifelong dream of owning one. David loved seeing the hay trucks come in and out of the dairy, and remembers thinking, “I’m going to do that one day.” And he did!! The opportunities that present themselves to our lives can come in strange ways. Often, they are brought to us by friends or family, other times they come as a product of hard work, and sometimes they are presented to us simply because of who we know. But, occasionally, they come to us by mere accident. Such is the case for David Viss (62) of D. Viss Cattle in Buckeye, AZ, the owner of the unique 1953 Kenworth “Bullnose” seen on our cover and centerfold this month (and these pages). Over the course of his life, he has found himself “accidentally” getting into businesses he never intended to – but he is glad these awesome accidents happened! Immigrating to the United States in 1902 from Holland, David’s great grandparents came here with the last name of Vis, but because there was already someone else here with that name, they added an extra “s” and made it Viss. David’s grandfather Cornelius was seven years old when the family came to America. Later, after marrying his wife Lucille, Cornelius began milking cows and hauling hay in California. Back then, he hauled “bottom bales” – the leftovers in the fields that other haulers didn’t take – to many of the dairies in Southern California. The next generation, David’s father Neil, was born in Chino in 1932. Neil later married his wife Gertrude, David’s mom, and the two ended up having nine children, with David being the second to youngest. Back then, big families were common, especially with farmers, because, as David put it, “They needed cheap labor!” In California, Neil had a cow trimming and clipping business that serviced the local dairies, but he eventually saved enough money to move to Glendale, AZ in 1957 and lease his own dairy. With only about 160 cows, this first dairy was not very large, but a few years later, in 1967, the family moved to Tolleson, AZ and built a new dairy that had twice the number of cows (about 350). Called Neil Viss Dairy, this operation would eventually grow to over 1,400 cows. Born in Glendale, AZ in 1963 but raised in Tolleson, David, along with all his siblings, learned to work hard at an early age. Getting up every day at about 3:00 AM or earlier, the kids all headed out to help with the cleaning and feeding of the cows and worked for four hours before heading inside for breakfast and to get ready for school. After school, it was back outside to help for another four hours. Their mom Gertrude 10 10-4 Magazine / June 2025 AWESOME ACCIDENTS
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