Leo Manuel’s passing

[simon_grow]

I am very sad to announce to the community that Leo Manuel has passed away this week. I just stopped by to give my condolences to his family and they are very appreciative of the support they have received.

Leo was a pioneer in the rare fruit community and he frequently opened up his yard for tours, especially for CRFG members.

Leo played a huge roll in getting me hooked on growing rare fruits and he also mentored me in my early years of grafting. Leo grew many different types of fruit in his yard but he especially loved his Mangos, Lychees and Annonas. Had I not met Leo way back when, I would probably not have discovered one of my true passions in life.

Leo’s passing is a huge loss for the rare fruit community and he will be dearly missed.

I’m not exactly sure what’s going to happen to all of Leo’s fruit trees but there are several people that have volunteered to help out with the yard.

Here is one of the last group pictures we had at a fruit tasting pre-COVID


Here are a few links with pics of Leos trees

https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=3188.0

https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=18187.0

https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=13514.msg171283#msg171283

Simon

[shot]

Treasure!treasure while their here.
And memories will get fonder as time goes by!!

[roblack]

Very sad to hear of Leo's passing. Thankful he was able to make such an indelible mark upon our passion and hobby.

[Paulish]

Grateful for the time spent and for the generosity Leo showed. Wish I'd had more opportunity to know him better. I feel that appreciation for the magnitude of his contributions will only continue to grow. The world is a richer place thanks to Leo and his legacy lives on.

[BestDay]

Very sad. What a loss. His passion for growing was obvious. I wish his family the best.

Bill

[JF]

Very sad to hear our good friend Leo passed away. My heartfelt condolences and my blessings go to the Manuel family. A very humble man of great character. It’s a great loss to exotic fruit community but his legacy is carry on by young enthusiastic guys like Simon, may he Rest In Peace.

[harveyc]

Thanks for letting us know, Simon.  Sad to hear this, I had visited him twice several years ago, once with Jack Swords.  Leo did write me a year or so ago to say he was not doing well.  I wish I could have seen him again.  He helped me a lot understand pitaya and I'm grateful that he took the time to help put together Paul Thomson's small book on the subject.  The first pitanga I ate was from his yard.  Somewhere I have a photo of when he had a black sapote growing which was grafted onto a Giant Fuyu persimmon.  I'm sure many have other fond memories.

[Jack, Nipomo]

So sorry to hear of Leo's passing.  He was one of the pioneers who kick-started many of us into this adventure with plants.  As with many of the pioneers, he lives on in the many plants he originated and contributed.

[elouicious]

His reputation preceded him- very sorry to hear of his passing,

Thanks for letting us know simon

[CTMIAMI]

Sorry he passed, but on the other hand he will continue to be present in the people he mentored, his openness to share and his ability to create and experiment. That will go on.

My recently grafted Leo Manuel 3

[BayAreaMicroClimate]

So he is where Leo #3 Atemoya came from? I’m growing out a seedling I got off ebay but it will be a long time until I see if it’s good like the parent. Hoping to buy Leo #3 scions

[John B]

Thank you for passing along the information, as hard as it can be. Legends never die. He got me interested in growing more tropical fruit from the old Yahoo Pitaya Group. Wealth of knowledge that he was always willing to share.

[ScottR]

Very sad news indeed another great rare fruit grower has passed I'am glad to have met him and will always remember him when I eat a Leo's #1or#3. RIP

[johnb51]

Thank you for passing along the information, as hard as it can be. Legends never die. He got me interested in growing more tropical fruit from the old Yahoo Pitaya Group. Wealth of knowledge that he was always willing to share.

And they live on through their creations.

[Victoria Ave]

What a bummer, but what a legacy

[Future]

Thank you for letting us know Simon. I only had the privilege to meet Leo once and that’s all it took to be impressed.  Comments here testify to his character and stature. I bid his family peace.

[simon_grow]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone, I will pass them on to Leo,s family once things calm down a bit. Leo did create the Leo Hybrid #1 and #3 and they both taste great. Leo also has excellent tasting mango selections like his Keitt Seedling, Apricot (mango), Best West, Leo #2, Leo Z among others.we will probably try to spread out these scions once things settle down.

Leo was an awesome person and had many of the same hobbies as myself. In his younger years, Leo was an Abalone diver and he still has tons of huge Ablalone shells scattered around his yard. Leo also raised quail for a bit and was a school teacher for some time.

Thanks to Harvey for the reminder about Leo’s love of Dragonfruit. Leo has a bunch of varieties in 5 gallon pots and he was the source of many of the varieties I was growing. I got my Frankies Red cuttings from Leo many years ago and many of the cuttings floating around out there are originally from Leo.

Simon

[JCorte]

I never had the opportunity to meet Leo, but I have benefitted from his experience and generosity in sharing information.  Years ago before dragon fruit was popular and there wasn't any information available on the internet, I found a PDF of Paul Thomson and Leo's dragon fruit booklet that offered valuable information.  I also remember reading his Newsletter where he shared his experience in growing rare fruits.  My best wishes go to his family.

Janet

[shaneatwell]

Such a nice guy. Huge loss.

[behlgarden]

very sorry to hear this sad news. Met him few times and what a fine gentleman he was. May his soul rest in peace. I have his Air-Layer of his Brewster lychee that will stay in my yard as his memory.

[hellosf]

very sorry to hear about his passing. he contributed so much knowledge.