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Photos | Ron's Life and Work | Community Memories
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Benjamin Ramage
Former Student |
I have just learned of Rons death and am deeply saddened. To this day, I still consider his Integrated Pest Management class to be, by far, the best class I have ever taken. Ron was a wonderful person - caring and passionate, and of course hightly intelligent and thoughtful. After I graduated in 2001, I contacted him a few times - for help with this or advice with that... and he was always quick to assist me in any way he could. My interactions with Ron were no doubt limited, but I will still miss and always remember this great man. |
George Poinar
Colleague and Friend |
We are off the mainstream up here in Oregon so I just now heard about the passing of Ron from Lindas Christmas card. Ron and I were graduate students at Cornell under George Gyrisco. We worked on the same topic alfalfa weevil and lived in the same house where we conducted research during the summer for our thesis. Ron was a great person and had strong convictions which led him to do wonderful things regarding the integrated control of apple pests. He was strongly influenced by his uncle who owned an apple orchard and did a lot to shape Rons early ideas on how to grow apples, including the ethics of apple growing. Ron did so well because he loved his work- you could say was quite passionate about his work. He told me that he never worked a day in his life- it was all play, even though he did a lot of physical labor. His passion was evident in the early years when he was unemployed and wrote papers from his farm, often having difficulty getting!
them published. He was a unique individual and there are few around today with such dedication. I know Linda supported him through those difficult early times and he was forever grateful to her. I cherish the last visit Ron paid to us here in Oregon a year ago and send my deepest sympathy to his family. |
Roberto Bob Crnjar
Colleague |
I had the pleasure to work with Ron way back in the seventies. I will always remember his great and contagious enthusiasm about his research, his great love and curiosity for nature and his tremendous stamina and energetic approach to all the things he did. Ron you sure have a special place in my heart. Roberto was a research associate of Ron's in the late seventies. |
Daniel R. Papaj
Colleague and Friend |
Ron's passion for the study of insect behavior mirrored my own. I treasure what I learned from him, not only about the behavior of tephritid fruit flies but about behavioral biology generally, and also about the process of science from grant proposal to experiment to presentation to publication. Nobody in my experience had a keener intuition about their study organism than Ron had about the flies and few could communicate their excitement about their science as effectively. |
Bernie Roitberg
Colleague |
Ron was the best mentor, colleague and friend that I could have had. He was humble yet confident, logical yet open to non-linear approaches, kind, gentle and never condescending. Due to time constraints, I was unable to provide anecdotes at Rons memorial service. Here is more or less what I had planned to say: As a student of Ron's I also had the privilege of traveling with Ron on several occasions. We always traveled on the cheap. And, if memory serves me right whenever we shared a room I always got the bed and Ron took the floor. |
Daniel R. Cooley
Colleague |
There was no doubt in my mind that Ron Prokopy would live until he was at least 90. I also knew he wouldn’t stop his life’s work, ever. And now that only one of those certainties has proven true, I can’t yet see how our world of New England apple growers and researchers, the world of insect ecologists, our university, or my own world will function in quite the same way. Half the time I forget that he isn’t home in Conway, isn’t at his Fernald Hall office, and isn’t checking curculio traps. Maybe as a way to make my mind adjust, I’ve been focusing on just one facet of his life. I’ve been wondering how Ron Prokopy ever managed to write all those papers, over 450 publications, an almost incomprehensible number. As the main form of academic research currency, the number of publications a person writes gives other academics a quick read on the stature and impact a scientist carries. It’s a career batting average, and Ron was a Ted Williams when it comes to writing. Very good scientists would be happy to write one or two hundred articles, chapters and other pieces over a career. And just as every hit Williams got represented hundreds of swings and hours of practice, every article a scientist writes represents hours of grant writing, lab and field experiments, data analysis and finally, the actual writing... |
Sylvia Cooley
Colleague |
Something Good Always Comes Out of Something Bad Ron always said, “something good always comes out of something bad.” It took me at least six times, six different bad experiences, to really see his point. At first I would think, “yeah, right!,” disbelieving, but then, something would happen, much later, and a light bulb would go off, and Ron would be there, in my head, and I’d think, “wow!, he was right!” This time, Ron, it is very hard to believe that. But I trust you. I will wait and see. One good thing, today, is that Ron is so present in this place and in these people. Ron worked on this farm and we can see his trees, his pond, his fields, his home, all better, more beautiful, because of him. He is built into this place... |
| Wes Autio
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I still have a hard time believing that we have lost our friend and colleague Ron Prokopy. His contribution to the science and practice of apple pest management will never be forgotten. Ron Prokopy was the entomological side of the UMass Fruit Program. He contributed regularly to Fruit Notes, Healthy Fruit, and the New England Apple Pest Management Guide. He wrote twenty-six Annual March Messages, an update on the state of tree-fruit insect control for fruit growers, and he spoke at all but three or four of the nearly 60 Twilight Grower Meetings since I joined the faculty 19 years ago. Further, he was always available to assist growers with their problems. This tally, however, does not adequately capture how Ron extended the research of UMass to the fruit industry. His outreach efforts were borne from a deep-seated concern for the well being of the tree-fruit industry and the growers as individuals and from an unquenchable enthusiasm for the details of insect pest management. He understood the constraints imposed on farmers both by the natural world and by society. This understanding helped Ron mold his outreach to guide our tree-fruit industry to a level which put them among the most progressive pest managers in the World... |
Franklyn, Bruce, and Robert Carlson
Growers and Friends |
All of us at Carlson Orchards have been touched by Ron's sudden passing. Bruce and 2 of our staff attended the twighlight meeting on the Wednesday evening before and like everyone else could not believe what they heard 2 days later. I will always remember Ron for his late evening calls at home. We always communicated about research blocks in the evenings. I dont think he ever stopped thinking about his Plum Cucurlio or Apple Maggot. He always went out of his way to express his feelings. Recently I gave him some of our new cider blends to try and I new he would taste them because they were all natural. Sure enough, he called me one evening just to tell me which ones he liked and did not like, and expressed the same delight about a new product as he would have of a new control for his Curculio. He was always interested in the apple economy and was very concerned about his growers and that they were going to be able to survive in our rapidly changing agricultural industry. His industry research and contributions are going to be missed by all growers and his absence at all meetings will never be filled. |
Cleve Willis
Colleague |
Ron was a one-of-a -kind renaissance man, quirky, down-played, and simply wonderful. He was a sweet man who engaged the scientific community and growers alike, who commanded the highest respect from people in every circle just by what he did and who he was. Some seek respect by engaging in a political arena, by taking credit for anything good that happens, and engaging in all of those games power seekers play. As anyone around him knows well, Ron's following and reputation was earned in all the right ways, and he was all but oblivious of the magnitude of his own brilliance and the widely-held esteem in which he was held. Ron was the best of us; we shall sorely miss him. |
John Burand
Colleague |
Ron was wonderful mentor and an inspirational colleague. Once in talking with him about my frustrations writing grant proposals he remarked "I love writing grant proposals. It’s a chance to develop new ideas and new approaches to solving problems." Ron's attitude encouraged me to rethink the process and may explain why he was so successful in getting grants funded. When I asked him about his proficiency in getting papers published he offered further advice about proficiency and time management "I once wrote a manuscript during a four hour layover in O’Hare" he said. But there was another side to Ron. I will always remember his last words to me "Hey thanks for telling me about that golf course on Maui. It was perfect for us. We had a great time." |
Bill Coli
Colleague |
By now, orcharding and University communities all over the world have learned that we have all lost a rare and unique individual: Dr. Ron Prokopy. As Wes Autio put it so well in a recent email, “Ron’s boundless support of the apple industry will be sorely missed, and his extensive research contributions will never be forgotten.” As Ron would have wanted, and in spite of the depth of our feelings of loss, I hope we can all focus on how he lived his life rather than on this untimely loss. I’m sure there will be a lot of sharing of stories at the memorial service planned for May 22 at his beloved farm in Conway. For those who can not attend, I’d like to offer just a few recollections about the 29 years I have known Ron... |
Bill Broderick
Friend | A Letter to Wes Autio I was deeply saddened to hear the news that Ron had died. I know that it is a shock to everyone that he knew. I can only imagine how his family must be devastated by such a sudden and unexpected death. It is difficult to put into words the level of respect and admiration I had for Ron. I know you feel that way too, even though you liked to tease him about going on too long at some of the meetings. Ron had an uncanny ability to communicate in simple terms that anyone could understand, and he did it with an infectious enthusiasm that re-enforced the point that he was trying to get across... |
Steve Goodwin Colleague |
When I think of Ron, the first image that comes to my mind is standing on a hillside in an orchard, Ron in tee-shirt and shorts, a big smile on his face and those ever-present red spheres and blue plastic cups in his hands. To see Ron at a twilight meeting, was to see him in his most natural elements. Ron would be speaking in hushed tones and fifty growers would be leaning in hanging on his every word. Self-effacing, almost shy, generous to a fault with his time, and still there was no doubt that Ron had the respect of everyone standing in that orchard. So what was it that drew so many of us to Ron? He believed in what he was doing and he loved what he was doing. There was a wholeness to Ron, he seemed to know that living life and loving life were one and the same thing. For me the secret was in Ron's smile, never forced, when Ron smiled at you, you knew he meant it. So I plan on thinking of Ron a lot, because I know it is going to make me feel good and it is going to make me enjoy what I'm doing just that little bit more. |
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