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IN MEMORIAM
David J. Gumpf
Professor of Plant Pathology
UC Riverside
2003
Professor David Gumpf died suddenly on February 6, 2003 while driving home from the Rubidoux Facilities that housed the Citrus Clonal Protection Program (CCPP). His death comes as a great loss to his family for which he cared so deeply and created a personal void for his friends and colleagues throughout the world. A significant loss will also be sustained in the advancement of citrus pathology and the citrus industry to which he contributed with commitment and sound judgment.
Dave was distinguished as a professor of plant pathology and contributed to the detection and characterization of citrus pathogens. His early career was directed to studies of the causal agent of “stubborn” disease of citrus, Spiroplasm citri and he was a charter member of International Organization of Mycoplasmology. He was a contributor to the 1995 publication in the journal Virology describing the complete genome of citrus tristeza virus (CTV), the major viral pathogen of citrus. This work led to his development of an anti-coat protein antibody, a powerful reagent that reacts with a wide range of CTV isolates and is currently the primary diagnostic tool for CTV detection in California.
In addition to his academic contributions as a professor in formal classes and mentor for many international graduate students, Dave served as the director of the CCPP since 1982. This program supported by the University of California, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the USDA was enhanced by Dave’s expertise in citrus pathogen detection, his keen interest in all aspects of citriculture and his noted administrative talent. The CCPP was the model for essentially all such programs worldwide.
Among his most important contributions were to assure a supply of citrus propagation material that was free of known pathogens and to introduce new citrus budwood to California. Many scientists visited his laboratory to learn the techniques used to test for and eliminate pathogens from citrus as well as to manage a program to maintain pathogen-tested budwood source trees.
In recognition of his service and contributions, he was named “The Researcher of
the Year” by the California Nurserymen’s Association in 2001 and received the Albert G. Slater Memorial Award in 2002 from the California Citrus Quality Council for his guidance and modernization of the CCPP and his leadership role in the planning and establishment of the USDA/ARS National Germplasm Repository for Citrus and Dates in California.
In recent years, the CCPP faced a significant new challenge as CTV became established in the area surrounding the Lindcove Research and Extension Center where budwood source trees are maintained. Distribution of budwood from trees infected with CTV is not permitted in California. Dave led efforts to annually test all trees on the field station for CTV infection, and more recently worked with the industry to establish and operate two acres of screenhouse in which citrus budwood free from CTV can be protected. This marked a major advancement in the protection of California citrus and was symbolic of Dave’s interest in the citrus industry and his exceptional manner of interacting with groups of diverse interests.
Dave was a long-standing member of the International Organization of Citrus Virologists (IOCV) and served as Secretary/Treasurer since 1989. He was active in numerous state, national and international research programs, including BARD with Israel and US – Spain Cooperative Projects. His collaboration assisted in the establishment of an International Collection of CTV isolates maintained at the USDA facility in Beltsville, MD to function as a main resource bank for research. For the past three years, Dave has served as the lead negotiator for development of protocols for the exchange of citrus propagative materials between Mexico and the United States as mandated by the North American Plant Protection Organization.
As an agricultural scientist, Dave took his commitment to growers and nurserymen seriously, and was generous of his time and involvement in citrus industry activities, even at the expense of recognition and advancement. He was not a person of professional expediency; clearly, Dave had a strong personal sense of what was “right” and the fortitude to follow his conscience. Cautious and observing in research, he was a good tree man with respect for time as an important investment in the study of citrus diseases. He would say to more impatient colleagues, “just wait a while longer before giving up” and to be sure, he was right so many times.
Listing the contributions and accomplishments of Dave cannot convey the impact he made on the lives and careers of his friends and colleagues. Those fortunate enough to have worked closely with Dave have experienced his inimitable talent to combine good science with an infectious appreciation for life. His deft manner of recognizing and sharing the humorous side of many trying situations made long days pass quickly and difficult goals possible. His visits either planned or with a gentle knock at the door, a letter, a phone call were always sure to bring a smile to the fortunate recipient and lighten the load of a day.
One could not ask for a better cooperator for difficult research projects that required patience, good planning, and the ability to interact well with a diverse group of colleagues with complete trust. Dave made his inputs in a highly effective manner, was generous in his support of cooperative efforts and always did his share of the inevitable “grunt” work involved. He did this in ways that made long days go by quickly for all. There is, perhaps, no better reflection of this than the regard of the technical support staff that worked side by side with Dave in the fields and labs throughout the world. With students he displayed an uncommon patience that encouraged confidence
Dave was strong but compassionate in his assistance to others in need while dealing quietly and courageously with chronic serious health problems that persisted throughout most of his career. He leaves the legacy of witness for living a full and exuberant life in the face of chronic serious health problems. Since he made no issue of these problems, many causal acquaintances were never aware that Dave dealt with medical conditions that not only took a daily expenditure of time and effort, but also repeatedly put him in critical life threatening situations.
Dave Gumpf was a real friend to many people. We are pleased to be included among them. Some of us knew Dave for more than thirty years, but one didn’t have to know Dave for very long to appreciate the kindness, warmth, gentleness, and thoughtfulness he displayed in his interactions with everyone. He had a contagious personality and the response to his touch was immediate. A friend wrote from the Middle East to share his image of Dave as a truly unselfish person who has surely left among those most important contributions to life, “good offspring that shall pray for him and a science from which others shall benefit”.
The “Big Guy” is gone but sadness and grief would not be a fitting tribute to his legacy as one with such zest and gusto for life and science. Life without Dave is less fun, but because of him it is richer and, this will surely be reflected in the manner we who shared some of his time view our own lives as well as the meaning of a life’s work. Trees we have planted with him still thrive as a reminder of who Dave Gumpf was, and even these would be proud.
Dave spoke caringly of his wife, Janice, and as a couple they projected an affection and maturity borne of challenges they had faced together. With a dedication for the welfare of his two children Ann and John, he was thrilled with the births of his grandchildren Brady and Mallory. A David Gumpf Memorial Fund has been established under the auspices of the California Citrus Nurserymen’s Society.
T. Batkin
V. Del Pizzo
S.M. Garnsey
M.L. Roose
J.S. Semancik