'Butter Cow Lady' of Iowa State Fair Dies

Toledo, Iowa – Norma "Duffy" Lyon, who gained fame as the "butter cow lady" of the Iowa State Fair, has died.

Kruse-Phillips Funeral Home in Tama says Lyon died Sunday at the age of 81. Services are pending. Family members told The Des Moines Register that Lyon died of a stroke.

Lyon's butter sculptures were a favored attraction at the fair for decades.

Her husband, Joe Lyon, said the butter sculptures were a "great outlet for her talent." He says his wife enjoyed the work and the acclaim in brought

Duffy Lyon first sculpted a butter cow for Iowa fair in 1960. She retired in 2006 and was followed as sculptor by Sarah Pratt, of West Des Moines.