On the passing of Bert Martin and others

It was a 4-H event at Michigan State University a half-century ago. I was in the Natural Science Building for an insect identification contest, something geeky farm kids did then. We were in the general entomology lab under the supervision of Dr. E.C. Martin, known to all his friends as Bert. Events like this were part of the reason I majored in entomology at MSU, and eventually did both a M.S. and Ph.D. with Bert Martin in pollination research on pickling cucumbers for machine harvest, and on strawberries.

As my graduate advisor Bert Martin was a low pressure professor. We discussed research and deadlines and got to work. At the end of the day I often checked in and Bert would have a story or three to share with me. He liked to teach by telling stories, and he shared his experiences with researchers and beekeepers to make certain points.

Bert died last Sunday at 99. His wife Ronnie, a wonderful lady and MSU professor of textiles, survives. They retired to Green Valley, Arizona after Bert took his second retirement from USDA as program leader for the bee programs. Dr. Roger Hoopingarner replaced Bert as the Bee Specialist at MSU and kept in close touch with Bert. He reports that all of the family were able to visit in December.

I dedicated Increase Essentials to Bert, and he was pleased by that, sending me a typewritten note, the typescript covering the entire page. Nothing was wasted. Bert cared about a lot of people, and was passionate about beekeeping.

One of the other participants at that 4-H event was a kid from a neighboring county. His name is Clarence Collison, and he lived on his folk's dairy farm. Clarence and I developed a strong friendship, and we worked under Martin and shared an office. We were fraternity brothers and roommates. Our families vacationed together for several years and we have had some great times together.

Clarence's wife, Sally Collison lost her sister Sherry this week too after many years in adult foster care. It had fallen on Sally to care for her adult sister for many, many years.

Two other beekeeping friends lost fathers this past week. Joe Calme, along with his wife Nancy, had bees on the Farm this summer and have moved them to their farm in SW Michigan. Joe's dad lived in the same condo complex in Kalamazoo so they could be close. They had hospice care at home where he died surrounded by family. And Sheldon Schwitek's father died yesterday in Manitoba. Sheldon and I have become very close friends during the past few months, and he made two visits to Canada to say goodbye to his father. He knew this was coming and was prepared as well as anyone ever can be for a loss of a parent.

I have read that people wait (= hold on) to die until after the holidays or some other big event, like a birthday. From the experience of the past week I cannot argue with that comment. My mother, Dorothy Connor, died two years ago on the last day of January. She had just turned 93, and had been a number of parties and social events in her honor. What I have experienced in the past two years is that you really don't loose these people, for they are part of who you are and how you think. I still want to call Mom and tell her things, and sometimes I just say it out loud.

We loose people we love and respect, and life continues. We carry them with us, and somehow I believe they try to guide our lives, even if it just the memory of them that determines our path.