The Legacy of Dr. Dennis Ring
The Texas Pecan Growers Association (TPGA) began at the dawn of the domestication of the pecan (Carya illinoinensis) in 1921 when the commercial pecan industry was in its infancy. Early pecan scientists focused on horticultural matters that established managed orchards and groves. Orchard acreage and production increased over time to catch up as wild pecan...
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Dennis Ring
I met Dennis Ring in the late 1970s when we were both graduate students at Texas A&M University. Dennis was working on casebearer (Acrobasis nuxvorella) and had seen evidence of infestation in nuts on trees of the Eli Whiteley memorial planting at Texas A&M University. I knew that planting was a hybrid swarm that included...
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Remembering Dennis Randall Ring: August 6, 1952 to May 4, 2020
Dennis Randall Ring was born August 6, 1952, in Texarkana, Arkansas, to Billy J. and Billie M. Ring. Dennis is survived by his wife Sherry, daughter Megan DeWees and her husband Dalton, sons, Randall Ring and Paul Ring; and by his brother David Ring and wife Karen, and nephews, Tim and Matthew, and five grandnieces...
Read moreRemembering Pecan Shelling Pioneer Jasper B. Sanfilippo Sr.
Jasper B. Sanfilippo Sr., 88, was born on March 26, 1931 in Chicago, and passed away peacefully at home in Barrington Hills, Illinois, on Jan. 28, 2020 surrounded by family. Mr. Sanfilippo attended Lake View High School in Chicago and was a 1953 graduate of the University of Illinois. After graduation, he served six months...
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The Pecan Industry Celebrates the Life of Jim Hamilton
Our friend and longtime member of the NPSA James C. Hamilton passed away Friday, July 26, 2019, surrounded by his family. Jim was born Aug. 10, 1937, in Visalia, California to Clarence and Ruth Hamilton. From a very young age, he worked the land, first with his father, and then on into his own career....
Read moreGeorgia Pecan Industry Loses One of its Champions
Before I was hired as the Pecan Extension Specialist for the University of Georgia, I worked for about three years or so as the Extension Agent in Dougherty County, Georgia. It can be difficult for new agents to break the ice with farmers, especially pecan farmers, and especially in a county where, for many years,...
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Have you heard the story of Ben Littlepage?
As usual, I turned onto I-49 driving south from Shreveport. I got off at exit 99, turned left and took the bridge over the Red River, driving northeast on Highway 8 toward Colfax. At McNeely Crossing, I would normally turn right at the farmhouse with the cannon sitting out front, but today, I continued on...
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Tribute to Dr. Jesse Cocke, Retired Extension Entomologist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Texas A & M AgriLife Extension Service lost another one of their Distinguished Retired Entomologists when Jesse Cocke, Ph.D., was called in for his next assignment in the vast gardens of heaven on May 23, 2018. Cocke was a great Extension Entomologist and an even better scientist! Jesse Cocke, Jr. was born on Sept. 29,...
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Remembering Robert Beard Drinkard, a True Pecan Man
Robert Beard “Bobby” Drinkard Jr., 65, of Goshen, Alabama died Friday, June 29, 2018 in Birmingham, Alabama. Bobby graduated from Pike County High School in 1971 and was an employee of Whaley Pecan Company for 37 years. Remembering Bobby Drinkard, friend Greg Hamil said, “You could always count on Bobby to tell you the truth with...
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Remembering a True Pecan Man
Richard Louis Haller of Fort Worth, Texas, aerospace engineer, pecan farmer and loving husband, father and friend, died September 14, 2017 of colon cancer. He was 87. Haller was born February 3, 1930 in San Antonio, Texas. He attended public schools in San Antonio, graduating from Edison High School, where he was on the basketball...
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Raymond Darrell Eikenbary
Raymond Darrell Eikenbary passed away on Sept. 9, 2017. He was born to Grover and Edna Allen Eikenbary on Nov. 2, 1929 in Quay, Oklahoma. He is survived by his special friend, Liz Konigmacher; his former wife, Dolores Guinn, (Harold Guinn); his children, Pam Guenther (Cris Bone), Darrell Eikenbary, Terry Shay, and Dale Eikenbary; his...
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Don Pallet
Don Bailey Pallett, 81, passed away peacefully on Sept. 13, 2017 in Granbury, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was born on Aug. 23, 1936 in Brady, Texas. Preceded in death by his wife, Joanne; Don is survived by his son Michael, daughter-in-law Holly, and granddaughter Hannah Pallett. Don was the retired General...
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New Mexico Loses Stalwart Supporter Karin Davidson
The New Mexico pecan industry lost a loyal supporter on June 5 when Karin Davidson died unexpectedly from a heart attack just days before her 57th birthday. Here are portions of an obituary published after her death. “Karin was born June 11, 1959 in Albuquerque, NM, to Karl and Ruth Gustafson, who preceded her in...
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A Tribute to Robert Kensing, “Mr. Texas Pecan Show”
The pecan industry lost a significant leader with the death of Robert Kensing on March 26, 2016. His love of pecans was unmatched and his outstanding leadership of the Texas Pecan Show Program was the very best. Bob’s first love of pecans began as an undergraduate in Professor Fred R. Brison’s Pecan Culture course at...
Read moreDallas broker Nick Sachs passes away at age 82
Nathan “Nick” Sachs, long-time nut broker based in Dallas, Texas, passed away on March 7, at age 82. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota Oct. 29, 1933. He was brought into the peanut business as his father, Sol Sachs, was a leading peanut processor based in the Midwest. He began hand shelling and bagging nuts to sell...
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LeRoy Olsak of San Angelo, Texas, Mar. 24, 1923-Oct. 5, 2015
Long-time Texas pecan grower and industry supporter, LeRoy Olsak, 92, passed away on Oct. 5, 2015, in a San Angelo, Texas nursing home. Olsak only farmed 40 acres of pecans in Schleicher County but he made a large impact on the state’s industry. His orchard, planted in the early 1970s, steadily turned out prize-winning pecans....
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Bluefford G. Hancock, 1925 – 2015
Bluefford G. Hancock passed away on Thursday, April 23, 2015 at the age of 90 following a long and successful career in Extension Horticulture at Texas A&M University at College Station. He was raised on a dairy farm in Erath County and served in the U.S. Army during WWII in Hawaii where he advanced to...
Read moreIndustry Loses Pecan Pioneer, Paulina Salopek
A pioneer of the New Mexico pecan industry who served in countless leadership roles, Paulina Utz Salopek, passed away on April 1. She was born on Sept. 2, 1932 in West Virginia. She was preceded in death by her husband David Salopek and is survived by 3 children: Vivian Salopek Steinborn (husband David M. Steinborn),...
Read moreLouisiana loses stalwart pecan supporter Meadows
The Louisiana pecan industry lost a great friend, a mentor, a leader and “prime mover” with the recent passing of Dr. Warren Meadows, according to pecan grower Ben Littlepage. Meadows’ contributions to the pecan industry in the state were huge, Littlepage said, particularly with regard to the Pecan Research Station near Shreveport. Meadows took the...
Read moreBrownwood breeding station loses Ellis Brown
Ellis Jack Brown, age 79, of Brownwood passed away June 13, 2014 at his residence. He was one of the key employees at the USDA Pecan Field Station in Brownwood, Texas, for many years. Ellis was born Jan. 9, 1935 to Lattie and Alma (Sikes) Brown in Richland Springs, Texas. Working alongside his father at...
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Orchard renovation: Thurman Gibson
Forty years ago, when I was just a young new horticulturist with Texas A&M, I received a phone call from Glenn Huddleston, Anderson County Extension Agent, asking if I would help him and a grower decide what to do with a 60-year-old orchard that had not been managed for over 20 years. The answer was...
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Harold Pape leaves pecan legacy among countless friends
The pecan industry said goodbye to one of its finest in December with the passing of Harold Otto Pape of Seguin, Texas. Harold passed away on Dec. 10, 2013, at the age of 80, after a long battle with cancer. His family reported that “he came into this life on the same land on which...
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Deane Stahmann remembered as Australian pioneer
Pecan pioneer Deane F. Stahmann passed away at his home in Toowoomba, Australia on Oct. 17. He was 83 years old. A funeral was held at a Toowoomba nut processing plant on Oct. 23 for the eccentric American who convinced Australians they could grow pecans where only wheat and cotton had previously been sown. An...
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USDA’s Louis Tedders passes away July 6
Well known USDA entomologist Walker Louis Tedders, 78, passed away on July 6, 2013, at Heart of Georgia Hospice Inpatient Care after an extended illness. Funeral Services were held July 8 at Perry United Methodist Church, Perry, Georgia. Louis Tedders was born in Albany, Georgia, to the late Walker Louis Tedders Sr. and Thelma Wallace...
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Louisiana Industry loses Patriarch Bob Williams
Louisiana pecan industry patriarch Bob Williams passed away at his home on Thursday, March 29 at the age of 94. His bedroom window overlooked his beautiful home place orchard in Tensas Parish that he and Miss Clarice bought 65 years earlier in March 1947. Mr. Bob was the last of 10 children and was born...
Read moreSara Hines, former head of SEPGA, passes away
Sara Virginia Hines, former executive secretary of the Southeastern Pecan Growers Association, passed away on Nov. 11, 2011 just a few months before she would have been 100 years old. Mrs. Hines was well known within the pecan industry for her energetic and gracious leadership. Her son, Chesley Hines Jr., provided the following obituary, which...
Read moreNorth Carolina Loses Pecan Leader Bill Bunn
The North Carolina pecan industry has lost a devoted and enthusiastic leader, Bill Bunn, who passed away on Sept. 30. He was 76 years old. Billy Rogers “Bill” Bunn was a founding member and the only president the North Carolina Pecan Growers Association ever had “because of his excellent and relentless efforts on behalf of...
Read morePecan Industry Loses Georgia’s Bud Lucke
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Marion Wilkerson “Bud” Luckey Jr. passed away Dec. 6, 2010 at University Hospital in Augusta. He was born Feb. 13, 1944. Bud Luckey was well known throughout the pecan industry. He began working in the pecan industry as a teenager at Tracy-Luckey Co. of Harlem, Georgia. During his career as a “pecan...
Read moreMac Gilliat Made Statewide Impact On Texas Industry
Mac Gilliat Real County Extension Agent Leakey, Texas 1942 – 2010 Mac Gilliat, long time Real County Extension Agent at Leakey, Texas, passed away on April 25, 2010. Mac was a life member of the Texas Pecan Growers Association and a great friend of pecans. Early in his career, he conducted establishment demonstrations which proved...
Read moreJim Bennett, West Texas Pecan Pioneer, Passes Away
Jim Bennett Belding Farms Manager Fort Stockton, Texas 1922 – 2010 Jim (James Elton) Bennett, manager of Belding Farms in Fort Stockton, Texas, for 27 years, passed away on April 30, 2010 at the age of 87. Jim was a quiet strong man who provided outstanding pecan leadership for the state of Texas and the...
Read moreRemembering Dr. Benton Storey
When I was hired as a soil scientist/water management research scientist at the A&M Center at El Paso almost 30 years ago, cotton was the king. To my surprise, a horticulturist at College Station, who turned out to be Dr. Benton Storey, invited me to attend the Texas Pecan Growers Annual Conference. At the time,...
Read moreA Final Conversation With Dr. Storey
In May 1967, Dr. J. Benton Storey launched The Pecan Quarterly magazine on behalf of the Texas Pecan Growers Association. TPGA later also purchased Pecan South magazine, which was being published in Georgia, in 1984 and combined the 2 national magazines into one industry-wide publication. The first issue of Pecan Quarterly is pictured here, featuring...
Read moreThe Passing of a Legend: Dr. J. Benton Storey
All involved in the pecan industry are well aware of the work of Dr. James Benton Storey as he was not only a distinguished and internationally recognized Professor of Horticulture and taught the Nut Culture class, Hort 418, at Texas A&M, but also was the heart and soul of the Texas Pecan Growers Association. His...
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