George Emery

February 04, 1933 – February 20, 2022

Born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, George Emery was the son of Earl and Phyllis Emery (both deceased). He graduated from Phoenixville High School in 1950 and enlisted in the US Army, where he became a radio operator and was stationed in Korea. After serving 2½ years, George was accepted at Penn State on the GI bill and started on his B.S. degree in Horticulture immediately after his discharge. There, he eventually obtained an M.S. degree, and then was accepted at Cornell University where he pursued a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding.

In 1964, he married Lise Martin, who at the time was a student at Cornell. They had met at the weekly Newman Club meetings and were married on August 22, in Lise’s hometown of Ste-Therese in Quebec, Canada. After graduating with his doctorate from Cornell in 1966, George accepted a position with Ferry Morse Seed Company in San Juan Bautista, California as a “snap bean” developer, and a lettuce breeder, and moved his family to the neighboring city of Hollister. Over his career, he developed or improved several bean varieties, and won an award for developing an early ripening green bean called “TenderLake”. He loved his work, and stayed with the company for 31 years, retiring in 1997 when the company changed hands. In his retirement he spent 20 years developing his Tastemaster tomato, growing 100’s of plants and giving away bushels of tomatoes every summer. He continued to keep in touch with the plant breeder community through his annual Thompson Group luncheons.

The Lord and his Catholic faith were a daily part of his life. He served his parish as a Lector for many years. Wherever he moved, George always made new friends, and his golf buddies, within his parish family. He was involved with the RCIA program, as well as Fishes and Loaves, at Sacred Heart Church for many years.

George loved his family. Birthdays and Christmas celebrations were important to him; the Christmas stockings were always filled with goodies chosen by himself. He leaves his wife Lise and their four children (and spouses): Elizabeth (Tony) Schneider, Suzanne (Jon) Yamanishi, Brigitte Martins, and Earl (Candie) Emery. He also leaves six grandchildren: Jean, Lilia and Morgan Schneider; Sydney and Kyle Yamanishi; and Stephanie Martins.

He was always very close to his brothers and sisters (and their spouses): Bill (Mary) Emery, Dorothy (Albert) Raichle, Ken (Barbara) Emery and Jane (Carl) Ludwick; as well as Lise’s sister Pierrette Martin and brother Claude (Yolande) Martin. He would visit them during his work trips, and always took a family vacation in June to visit relatives in both Pennsylvania and Quebec. He loved and enjoyed spending time with all his nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Resurrection is scheduled to be held at Sacred Heart Church in Hollister on a date to be announced when confirmed.