California ag leader Don Smith dies at 95
California ag leader Don Smith dies at 95
Longtime California agricultural leader Don Smith, who remained active in the industry and in his farming operation until the end, died on July 3 at the age of 95.
“He worked his entire life,” said his son and business partner Stephen Smith. “He was very involved in every aspect of the company (Turlock Fruit Co.) until the day he died. In fact, he was out walking the fields and checking the crops just a week ago. He was involved in picking and packing and was also active on the sales end. With some customers he worked with five generations of buyers — especially the wholesalers.”
melon fields several years ago.
Donald J. Smith was born in Turlock, CA, on Dec. 3, 1929, and died July 3 after a short illness. “He died peacefully in his sleep at home,” said his son.
Mr. Smith grew up in the melon business as his father, James H. Smith, affectionately known as Cantaloupe Smith throughout his career, started the family business in 1918. Son Don worked on the farm throughout his youth, formally joining Turlock Fruit after graduating from the University of Pacific in nearby Stockton, CA, in 1952. “In fact, my grandfather got very sick in 1951 and my dad took a year off from college to run the packing and farming operation before returning to college and joining his dad full-time after graduating.”
James Smith earned his “Cantaloupe Smith” moniker as he was a true pioneer in the California cantaloupe business. “He wasn’t the first one to grow cantaloupes, but he did pioneer the selling of California cantaloupes across the country,” Steve said of his grandfather. “I believe he was the first one to use top ice to ship them across the country.”
James H. Smith died in 1960 with Don Smith taking the reins for the next six decades. He ran the company with his brother-in-law Bill Palmer until his death in 2008. In recent years, Don, son Steve and grandson Alec have operated the organization in concert. “It’s really quite remarkable,” said Steve. “We’ve had three generations working together very successfully. We don’t always agree but we make it work.”
Steve said Turlock Fruit Co. has now surged past its 100th anniversary and moved into the fourth generation of family leadership, far surpassing the reality that the vast majority of family companies rarely make it through the third generation. The common refrain that “the first generation builds it, the second generation maintains it and the third generation destroys it” has a basis in fact as 90 percent of family businesses never make it to the fourth generation.
“I haven’t destroyed it yet,” quipped third-generation leader Steve.
He notes that his father was a very progressive farmer, adopting new technology as it came into vogue, including drip irrigation and computer-driven farming practices. He said the current ownership has greatly expanded the company’s holdings and increased its acreage. “We are still melon focused, but we have diversified into other commodities, including almonds, processing tomatoes and cherries,” Steve said.
office, and frequently talked to customers until the end.
This office photo was taken in 2018, the year the
company celebrated its 100th anniversary.
Don Smith was an active participant in the ag community at large serving on the Western Growers Association board of directors for many decades — and in fact is the youngest chairman the association ever had, as he helmed the board in the mid-1960s. “He was very proud of that fact,” Steve said, noting that his father was in his mid-30s at that time.
Don Smith was active in the political arena, supporting and working for pro-agriculture candidates throughout his career, and doing what he could to help the fresh produce industry. Matt McInerney, who served WGA as a member of the leadership team throughout his work life, interacted with Mr. Smith from his first weeks on the job to the end of his career more than four decades later. “He was extremely gracious when I started my career knowing absolutely nothing about agriculture,” he said. “He was one of the smartest people in the industry and was a great industry supporter.”
In fact, McInerney said that Don Smith deserves a fair share of the credit for getting the fresh produce industry to support the Trust Amendment that was added to the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act by Congress in 1984. “At the time, Don was the chairman of the Legislative Committee of the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association, as it was called at the time,” he said. “He could see how the PACA Trust would benefit everyone along the supply chain. At the time, many people thought it was only beneficial to grower-shippers, but Don knew different and was instrumental in getting the full support of the industry. He was such a personality that he was perfectly suited to carry the argument forwarded. He exuded confidence in anything he said.”
McInerney recalled that Don Smith was one of the first recipients of WGA’s Award of Honor, which is the association’s most prestigious member recognition.
Stephen Patricio, president of Westside Produce, another San Joaquin Valley melon shipper, has also spent his entire career listening to and talking with Don Smith. “He is truly a legend in our business,” he said. “He was as committed to the melon business as much as any person could be. He lived it and talked it 24/7, 365 days of the year.”
Patricio cannot remember the day he met Don Smith, but he recalls that it was early in his career in the 1970s, and Mr. Smith has been a presence ever since. “He always called me ‘kid,’ and if he told me to do something I’d do it.”
Patricio recalls that it was Don Smith who told him to join the Western Growers Assurance Trust Board in the mid-1990s, replacing Smith, who had occupied that board position for many decades. “When they call you kid, just say yes,” is how Patricio remembers the conversation.
Steve Patricio went on to serve on that board and as WGA chairman. In fact, he is still on the WGA board of directors. “He’d often text me and just say, ‘What’s going on kid,’” Patricio recalled. “And then we would have a long conversation about the melon business. Just a few weeks ago, he sent me word through his son to go pick up a box of Western Shipper cantaloupes (a highly perishable, great tasting, traditional variety that Don Smith still grew). I was headed in the opposite direction but I turned around and went and got that box because Don told me to.”
Though Westside Produce and Turlock Fruit Co. are literally competitors, Patricio doesn’t see it that way. He saw Don Smith as a colleague and said they often helped each other out, packing each other’s melons and utilizing each other’s coolers when the need arose. “He was a mentor and a true friend,” he said.
At the time of this writing, the family was still putting together the funeral arrangements, but Patricio quipped it would have to be held at night because Don Smith would hate to know he was the cause of somebody missing a day of work. Son Steve chuckled at the comment and revealed that his father did consider vacations to be a “frivolous” pursuit. “To my dad, vacation meant driving down to Firebaugh to look at our melon fields down there,” he said.
Mr. Smith is survived by his three children: Stephen, Sally and Stuart; six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and numerous other relatives. Stephen and son Alec are joined by Stephen’s son-in-law Neil Callis as the family members charged with the responsibility of keeping the 111-year-old company solvent until the fifth generation is ready to take over.
