Dr. Norman Childers, a long-time fruit researcher, author, and
educator, passed away on Sunday, April 24, in Gainesville, FL, at the
age of 100.
Childers spent several years as a researcher and professor at Rutgers
University before retiring in 1981. But his career in the fruit
industry didn’t end there; he spent almost 30 years as an adjunct
professor of fruit crops at the University of Florida. Author of many
books, including Modern Fruit Science, Childers was an active member of
the American Society for Horticultural Science.
As Dan Cantliffe of the University of Florida notes, “Norm was a king
among horticulturists, someone who loved students and loved teaching.
He is well known around the world through the books he wrote and his
expertise in fruit crops. Norm taught various courses in fruit crops at
the University of Florida starting in 1981 after retiring from Rutgers
University. He started our “Fruits for Fun and Profit” course which
has more than 400 students every time it is taught. He taught his last
course when he was 92 and finished his last book when he was 95. He
will be deeply missed.”
Childer’s funeral will be on Friday, April 29 at 2:00 p.m. at the
William Thomas Funeral Home in Gainesville, FL.
Click here to read American/Western Fruit Grower’s May 2005 cover
story, a conversation between Childers and long-time American/Western
Fruit Grower editor and current chairman emeritus Dick Meister.
[NAFEX] Norman Childers Passes Away At 100,
Lon J. Rombough, 04/27/2011