Jay Telles dies at 61
Jay Telles dies at 61
Jesse Port (Jay) Telles III, who once headed one of the larger cantaloupe growing, packing and shipping operations in the United States and later owned and operated a large citrus packing company with his wife, Leslie, died Feb. 11 at his home in Fresno, CA. He was 61.
A third-generation San Joaquin Valley farmer, Mr. Telles was born March 10, 1945, in Santa Clara, CA. His father, Jess Port Telles Jr., and his uncle, Frank Telles, began farming in the central San Joaquin Valley in the early 1950s, a partnership that eventually grew to comprise more than 40,000 acres of cotton, melons, tomatoes, lettuce, barley and wheat in California and Arizona.
Mr. Telles moved at a young age with his family to Los Banos, CA, where he grew up working on the family farms and in the packinghouses. By the time he was a teenager, he was driving a tractor, tilling cantaloupe and loading crates of cantaloupes onto railcars.
After finishing college, Mr. Telles moved to Eloy, AZ, to supervise the family lettuce operation. He later returned to California, where in the early 1970s he became a partner in the business with his father and brothers. Over the next several years, the Telles family diversified its business interests, incorporating Telles Ranches, Tri Produce, Tri Citrus, Tri Transport, Tri Dairy and the Tri Cotton Gin, and employing thousands of people.
Mr. Telles eventually became president and chief operating officer of Tri Produce, which at one time was the largest cantaloupe growing, packing and shipping operation in the country and the first to pack over 100,000 boxes in one day. Later, he and his wife became owners of Tri Citrus in Porterville, CA, which they operated until about a two years ago.
Atomic Torosian, managing partner of Crown Jewels Marketing & Distribution in Fresno, who was sales manager for Tri Produce from about 1980 to 1986, said, "Jay was quite a pioneer in the industry." There were "a lot of things" that he and his father "brought to the industry," Mr. Torosian said. Among other things, "they were the first people to pack [cantaloupes] into a carton."
Mr. Telles is survived by his wife, three sons and two grandchildren.
A third-generation San Joaquin Valley farmer, Mr. Telles was born March 10, 1945, in Santa Clara, CA. His father, Jess Port Telles Jr., and his uncle, Frank Telles, began farming in the central San Joaquin Valley in the early 1950s, a partnership that eventually grew to comprise more than 40,000 acres of cotton, melons, tomatoes, lettuce, barley and wheat in California and Arizona.
Mr. Telles moved at a young age with his family to Los Banos, CA, where he grew up working on the family farms and in the packinghouses. By the time he was a teenager, he was driving a tractor, tilling cantaloupe and loading crates of cantaloupes onto railcars.
After finishing college, Mr. Telles moved to Eloy, AZ, to supervise the family lettuce operation. He later returned to California, where in the early 1970s he became a partner in the business with his father and brothers. Over the next several years, the Telles family diversified its business interests, incorporating Telles Ranches, Tri Produce, Tri Citrus, Tri Transport, Tri Dairy and the Tri Cotton Gin, and employing thousands of people.
Mr. Telles eventually became president and chief operating officer of Tri Produce, which at one time was the largest cantaloupe growing, packing and shipping operation in the country and the first to pack over 100,000 boxes in one day. Later, he and his wife became owners of Tri Citrus in Porterville, CA, which they operated until about a two years ago.
Atomic Torosian, managing partner of Crown Jewels Marketing & Distribution in Fresno, who was sales manager for Tri Produce from about 1980 to 1986, said, "Jay was quite a pioneer in the industry." There were "a lot of things" that he and his father "brought to the industry," Mr. Torosian said. Among other things, "they were the first people to pack [cantaloupes] into a carton."
Mr. Telles is survived by his wife, three sons and two grandchildren.
