Dear Carolyn,
What a touching tribute to your father! I do not print and save many things from my voluminous internet emails, but this is one I shall for many reasons. I met your father on several occasions over the decades when I would visit Berry Botanic Gardens. And I enjoyed his company very much. As a life long professional rock gardener, you can imagine how gratifying it is to see one of my relatively few peers in my specialty who not only achieved so much in his professional life, but obviously maintained strong bonds with his family. What more could a human being aspire to? My sincere condolences and a touch of regret that I did not pursue more with Jack directly: I know now it was entirely my loss, Panayoti Kelaidis ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carolyn Poff Strong" <[email protected]> To: "the Electronic Rock Garden Society Alpine-L, postings copyright by authors." <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 9, 2011 3:49:51 PM Subject: [Alpine-l] Jack Poff Many of you may have known my father, Jack Poff, who was at the Berry Botanic Garden and worked many years as the plantsman and rock gardener for Mrs. Berry. He also worked for John and Lilla Leach and later with there garden as the Leach Botanic Garden. Jack died this morning. He spent his last days at a lovely wooded home in Gresham Oregon, surrounded with beauty, a lovely view with trees and many birds.... He lived a wonderful, full life and touched many lives. There were sides of Jack that many didn't know outside of his plant world. Sides only his family knew.... that of a father with a large extended family. I thought I would share a few thoughts about him. For my sister, Colleen, and me, he made our childhood very rich. Our house was always filled with friends. Our doors were always open. He was the "father" in the neighborhood many kids did not have. He told stories, gave marshmallow roasts, showed us the stars and constellations, raised birds (raven, owl, chickens, pigeons, and even a hummingbird), and rabbits and many cats and dogs and loved banana slugs. He took us to ponds, bogs, rivers, meadows. He took us on hikes, camping trips, plant expeditions and he never was bothered by how many "friends" tagged along. I never had to worry whether a friend had to get his permission to be invited. A phrase he used over and over was "the more the merrier". He instilled in me my loved for music when he took my sister and me, and all the neighborhood friends, to listen to folk music and bluegrass. My first job was working along side of him at the Berry Botanic Garden, where I spent my summers weeding beds for Mrs. Berry. I thought of him as a modern day William Cusick, the botanist from his beloved Wallowa Mountains where Jack spent his summers as a boy. Our childhood was wonderful, filled with all the freedom and outdoor adventure a kid could possibly wish for. Jack left us a treasure of wonderful memories and experiences and how truly blessed I was to have him as my dad. Carolyn Poff Strong _______________________________________________ Alpine-l mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.science.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/alpine-l
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