In Memoriam
In Memoriam
STMA and the industry lost several long-time
members and significant industry pioneers
since the 2013 conference. We recognize that
their leadership has greatly contributed to the
success of STMA, the sports turf management
profession and the turfgrass industry overall.
These key leaders were:
Dr. Joseph Duich, a long time Penn State
Agronomy Dept. faculty member, best known
for breeding several ground-breaking turfgrass
cultivars, including Pennfine perennial ryegrass,
and Penncross, Penneagle, Pennlinks and the
Penn A and G series of creeping bentgrasses,
passed away Oct. 11, 2013.
Dr. A.J. Powell, Jr., a professor and
Research and Extension Specialist in Turfgrass
for 30 years at the University of Kentucky,
passed away Oct. 30, 2013. He wrote for
numerous publications, including STMA's
SportsTurf, and was a nationally recognized
speaker, also speaking at STMA conferences.
He was a great friend to sports turf managers
and was known for developing the concept of N
fertilization of cool season grass in winter,
released the Quickstand bermudagrass cultivar,
developed chemical programs for control of
wild violets and other weed species in lawns,
and worked extensively fine tuning the reduction of perennial Poa in bentgrass greens and
fairways using PGR's.
Dr. James Watson joined The Toro
Company in 1952 as director of agronomy,
where he pioneered important turf and water
management research around the globe until his
retirement from Toro in 1998. He was the catalyst for the development of The SAFE Foundation,
STMA's charity, and has two scholarships named
after him. He passed away Oct. 1, 2013.
Charles G. Wilson, founding agronomist
of the USGA Green Sections Turf Advisory
service, and head agronomist, sales manager
and director of Milorganite fertilizer, passed
away Sept. 23, 2013, at the age of 93.
