DR. JOHN G. SEELEY
GARDENING IS A PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD. YOU DO YOUR PART AND GOD DOES THE REST. Dr. John George Seeley slipped from our lives and into the hand of God on Wednesday, May 9, 2007.
Dr. Seeley was born December 21, 1915 at North Bergen, New Jersey, the second son of the late Howard W. and Lillian F. Seeley. He received his B.S. in Horticulture in 1937 at Rutgers University where he was tapped by Alpha Zeta and judged the best agriculture senior. His Masters degree in 1940 was also from Rutgers. During the World War II, he took leave from his doctoral study at Cornell for research on extracting rubber from goldenrod. He completed his Ph.D. at Cornell in 1948.
His teaching, research and extension work ranged from research assistant at Rutgers to associate professor and Chair of Floriculture at Penn State, and head of Department of Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture at Cornell. Dr. Seeley was author of several scientific bulletins and many technical and scientific articles for florist trade papers and magazines. He was such a perfectionist that if one misspelled words, he would tell them to "look it up in the dictionary." Often he spent more time reading and critiquing a paper than the student had spent writing it.
He served for a number of years as Secretary to the International Horticulture Society and in 1986, was elected President of the American Horticulture Society. Since 1986, he has been honored by the annual "Seeley Conference," a gathering of professional growers at Cornell to promote floriculture.
When a Cornell graduate student, he had participated in Liberty Hyde Bailey's home Sunday evening discussions, listening eagerly to LHB's informal accounts of his plant exploration travels. One of John's last publications was about LHB when he nominated Bailey to the Hall of Fame for the American Society of Horticultural Science. He was especially proud of receiving the Liberty Hyde Bailey Award, the highest honor of American Horticulture Society, in 1998.
John was active in Rotary for many years, having served as President of the Ithaca Chapter and subsequently District Governor of Rotary District Club #717 in New York. After retirement, he continued participation in floriculture affairs as the President of the Fred C. Gloeckner Foundation which makes small grants to floriculture researchers.
Originally John met Catherine Louise Cook on April 1, 1933 on a blind date to a Sunrise Easter Service. They married on May 28, 1938. Rich is not how much they had or where they went, for John realized how 'rich' he was with their marriage, especially as he faithfully attended and cherished moments with her while she lived at Taughannock House at Kendal Retirement Village until she died February 21, 1999.
Students, colleagues and friends of John G. Seeley will remember him as an extraordinarily kind, caring and generous man. He had a passion for gardening, sharing knowledge, flowers and produce he loved to grow. He put his theories into practice and was always wondering why--especially the summer at Kendal when some zinnias developed mold. Until his last days he took joy in the sunsets over Cayuga Lake and the Kendal dessert table.
John was preceded in death by his beloved wife Catherine, daughter Sarah Blythe, and son David John. Surviving are a daughter Catherine Seeley Crymes at Kendal, and three sons, Daniel Henry of Holliston, Massachusetts, George Bingham of Cooperstown, and Thomas Dyer of Ithaca, New York; also 14 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Surviving also are his two younger brothers, Robert of Waco, Texas and Donald of Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey.
Deeply distressed but grateful for what he had been to us, friends are invited to a celebration of John's life at Kendal on Saturday, May 19, 207 at 2p.m. Contributions can be made to Cornell Plantations, 1 Plantation Road, Ithaca, NY 14850. At a later date, his ashes will be buried with Catherine's in Ridgewood, New Jersey beneath a glorious geranium.
Published in The Ithaca Journal, (NY) - May 11, 2007
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