A better day could not be imagined for one’s exit from the world. A sublime early fall day in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. All crisp morning, a red and orange sunrise turned the air into a golden haze, highlighting the cobwebs and dew drops. The silhouette of Mt. Hood appeared in the East against a rapidly bluing sky, which would eventually shimmer to the enjoyable yet brief mid-eighties before the rapid cooling of a shortening day that in turn settles the dust of late potato harvesters and hay balers.
Today I and others said goodbye to Raymond Elmer Farnsworth, my mentor in all things agricultural. Eighty five years in Oregon, sixty years married to Nelda. A farmer through and through, Coast Guardsman on the Columbia River Bar during WWII and a school bus driver when times and obligations called. From Asparagus to Lilies and all in between Ray was a natural grower. By temperament and work ethic, by a love of the land and by a calm acceptance of the dealings of nature. In taking me under his wing he introduced me to this dreamt of land at the end of the Oregon Trail, to a community that husbands it to this day, and to a life of productivity and meaning wherein business is conducted on a handshake and ones good word. For a kid, fresh off the boat from Scotland, to show up and be able to earn entry into this conservative and pioneering community still strikes me as remarkable and very very lucky.
When Ray retired and I was fortunate enough to assume his position in corporate agriculture we remained close friends. I always asked and he generously informed as we strolled through his vegetable garden, split firewood and fished for salmon. In the era before minimal tillage was accepted he intuitively understood it. His observations on the application of everything from nutrients to irrigation were acute and very perceptive. As popular as it now is to talk about conservation and the environment, we would do well to remember that men like Ray lived by these principles day in and day out all the while creating world renowned products, employment for hundreds and many millions of reasons to keep farmland as farmland. He did all this without blowing a trumpet or calling a PR agent. There was no self promotion in his endeavors.
Ray was a man who simply did what he had to do, when he had to do it and those of us privileged to work under him learned to do the same. Tonight after the office work was done I drove out to my farm on Sauvie Island. A place he approved of! I walked the land, toed the earth, and sniffed a handful while delighting in its texture. The sun was dipping over the west hills at the same time painting the volcanoes with alpenglow. It really was a beautiful day for a hardworking man of the land and the sea to wrap up his tenure; equally, it was a beautiful day for me to say goodbye and thank you to Ray.