Author Topic: Jim Neitzel passing away  (Read 4698 times)

marklee

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Jim Neitzel passing away
« on: June 04, 2018, 05:52:00 PM »
For those of you who knew Jim Neitzel and all he did for the rare fruit  community, it was sad to hear he passed away this morning. Jim was a big inspiration to me and i'm sure thousands of others in pursuing this rewarding hobby.

He developed so many great varieties of fruit. Some of you may heard of the "Big Jim" loquat along with many other loquats that haven't been widely recognized. Also he did a lot of work with cherimoyas and produced some great ones. At his place he has some amazing macadamias, and hundreds of other seedling fruits that deserve to be shared. He also worked with Paul Thomson in developing some of the pitahayas we enjoy today.

I'm sure there will be more folks that have great things to say about Jim and how he affected them.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2018, 07:10:49 PM by marklee »

ScottR

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2018, 06:14:23 PM »
I just got home today from Ojai an learned the news from our Chapter mentor Joe Sabol, sorry to hear of Jim's passing he was a true rare fruit grower and fruit developer his wisdom is gone but his plant varieties will live forever!! I didn't know him well an only talked with him a few times at CRFG Festivals but he was a kind intelligent man an will be missed by many :(

simon_grow

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #2 on: June 04, 2018, 07:07:29 PM »
My condolences to Jim’s family. Jim has been a mentor to myself and many others in the rare Fruit community. Even though Jim was in pretty bad shape for the last 2 years, he still did his best to attend CRFG meetings and local fruit tastings. The knowledge and varieties of fruit he passed down to us will continue to inspire and grow for future generations.

Simon

simon_grow

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #3 on: June 04, 2018, 07:13:17 PM »
I believe this is the last group picture we have with Jim.

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=25557.msg298663#msg298663

Simon

fyliu

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #4 on: June 04, 2018, 07:21:46 PM »
Jim taught me how to graft when I got started in 2009. I hope that he can finally rest in peace. Jim has done a lot for the San Diego Chapter for as long as I remember. He's one of those people that have been around so long that their selected seedling trees have a pretty good chance against popular named cultivars.

zands

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gozp

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #6 on: June 05, 2018, 01:52:32 AM »
This is sad news.



behlgarden

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2018, 05:42:01 PM »
Jim will be missed, his legacy will live on in my yard "Big Jim"

JF

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #8 on: June 05, 2018, 06:22:16 PM »
A big loss for the rare fruit community.....he will always be remembered as one of the greats, May he Rest In Peace

marklee

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #9 on: June 05, 2018, 06:46:12 PM »
When Jim was unable to care for his plants last time he was in the hospital, he had me take a bunch of his "promising" seedlings to care for. One of them is a peach he grew from seed which fruited and is worth propagating, and also a giant softball size guava that fruited last year. He just asked me last week to make some airlayers of the guava.

So, I guess we will carry on his legacy with some new fruit from him. I think we should name the huge guava "Big Jim Guava", and we'll need to think up a name for the excellent peach seedling.

shaneatwell

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #10 on: June 06, 2018, 12:29:25 AM »
Super nice guy. Sad to hear.
Shane

marklee

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #11 on: June 07, 2018, 11:15:33 PM »
Jim, with friends


ScottR

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #12 on: June 08, 2018, 10:00:13 AM »
Nice picture Mark thanks for sharing 8)

marklee

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #13 on: June 10, 2018, 05:22:01 PM »
Jim, with one of his varieties.


Bananaizme

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #14 on: June 10, 2018, 08:49:55 PM »
    Jim will truly be missed in the rare fruit grower family. I had the pleasure of knowing this man for around 20 years and I considered him a great friend.  Even though I knew that he was I’ll for some time it still comes as a shock when you hear the news. I’ve had the pleasure over the years to get to know Jim , Paul Thomson,Bill Whitman, George Emerich, Eunice Messner, and these are people who you don’t forget. I used to enjoy talking plants with these people for hours. Rest In Peace my dear friend.

William

fyliu

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #15 on: June 11, 2018, 01:00:07 AM »
Big Sister is one I've been looking for. I've had Sabor for many years but only just grafted Big Sister a month ago. Thanks for the pictures.

marklee

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #16 on: June 11, 2018, 01:30:29 AM »
Big Sister is one I've been looking for. I've had Sabor for many years but only just grafted Big Sister a month ago. Thanks for the pictures.

Fang,

I'm glad you have those ones. I think some of the original trees are gone now.

JF

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #17 on: June 11, 2018, 10:16:41 AM »
    Jim will truly be missed in the rare fruit grower family. I had the pleasure of knowing this man for around 20 years and I considered him a great friend.  Even though I knew that he was I’ll for some time it still comes as a shock when you hear the news. I’ve had the pleasure over the years to get to know Jim , Paul Thomson,Bill Whitman, George Emerich, Eunice Messner, and these are people who you don’t forget. I used to enjoy talking plants with these people for hours. Rest In Peace my dear friend.

William

Hi William
Those are heavyweights names and Jim belongs in that group. Like Fang said he struggled w his health for the last few years yet he continued to make appearences in events and never stop talking about his passion.....it was an honor knowing him.

Bananaizme

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #18 on: June 11, 2018, 02:04:37 PM »
    Hi Frank

 It’s good to hear from you. I was wishing that there was a “ like button “ to press in agreement with your comments. I for one count it a privilege to have had the opportunity to know these persons and call them my friends. But what really surprised me was that they called me friend back when I had so little to offer to the friendship . I learned a lot from each of them and was always ready to learn more as they offered up their knowledge . There’s not too many of them left. How is Rudy doing ? Do you see him much ?


 William

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #19 on: June 12, 2018, 10:20:21 AM »
Hi Bill

Our friend Rudy is fragile and has had some health issues but he’s still in good spirit. He’s sold his farm In Temecula but he’s still happy to share his knowledge about anonas and life....

Bananaizme

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #20 on: June 12, 2018, 01:49:45 PM »
    Frank

Yes the last time I saw him was around two to three years ago at the California cherimoya association annual meeting in carpinteria at the home of Jonathan Brown.  He came up with one of his sons who if I remember correctly had a place in Escondido. Anyway we talked plants in general for quite awhile before the meeting started. It was a really day .

 William

fyliu

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Re: Jim Neitzel passing away
« Reply #21 on: June 12, 2018, 07:13:01 PM »
    Frank

Yes the last time I saw him was around two to three years ago at the California cherimoya association annual meeting in carpinteria at the home of Jonathan Brown.  He came up with one of his sons who if I remember correctly had a place in Escondido. Anyway we talked plants in general for quite awhile before the meeting started. It was a really day .

 William
I didn't know he went to that meeting. It's so far away for him. He's really dedicated to this hobby.