We often learn who our true friends are in times of need. For a Mills County, Iowa family, those friends include the entire community.

It may look like any western Iowa cornfield, but to Elton Tackett it was a little slice of heaven. He grew up here, raised his family here and last Wednesday died from cancer here at the age of 60.

Meanwhile, his crops had not yet been harvested, until now. “It's just unbelievable and it’s sad that it took Elton's passing before we realized how many friends he had in this community,” said widow Deborah Tackett. “He was born here, he lived in this house and loved the land.”

Dozens of Elton’s friends and neighbors showed up with tractors, combines and grain loaders. "Everybody just showed up, pitched in and helped and we've got even more people here today, almost more people than we need, but we're going to get it all out in one day,” said son Elden Tackett.

"This is it, this is a tribute to our father, this is it dad, this is for you,” said daughter Danielle Tackett. “All your friends have gone together and they're taking care of everything for you dad."

It is appropriate that these fields are being harvested with vintage John Deere machinery. "E.T." loved the older machines.

"If I would have seen Elton farm with a brand new tractor I would have thought it was someone else,” said neighbor Kirby Roenfeld, who worked on some of those 1930s tractors with him.

"That was his baby, that inside of that motor was his, his baby,” said Roenfeld. “As you notice the old pulling tractors aren't very shiny green and he had a guy ask him once where's all the green at and he pointed his finger to the inside of the motor."

"It's just a blessing is what it is,” said lifelong friend Mack Craig. "I've known Elton a long time and it's more than an honor to come out and take his last crops in."

"Men who are stopping their work in the fields coming here and harvesting his crop for him is such a tribute to him and what a wonderful man he was," said Deborah.

"Elton was always the first one at everybody else's harvest if there was a death in the family or a sickness in the family," said Roenfeld.

Somewhere above this cornfield, Elton Tackett is smiling as his friends and neighbors provided proof that we really do reap what we sow.

A neighbor said she used to open her windows just to hear the sound of the vintage tractors on the Tackett farm. In addition to his love of old tractors, Tackett was also a member of the Classic Chevy Club.