[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 63 (Thursday, May 16, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E822-E823]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO PAUL ECKE, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. RANDY ``DUKE'' CUNNINGHAM

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 15, 2002

  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life 
and accomplishments of my friend, Paul Ecke Jr. who passed away on 
Monday morning after a long illness. Paul was a devoted husband and 
father, a leader in the San Diego Community, and a force in the 
poinsettia industry. While his leadership in the poinsettia business 
made him an international figure; it was his warm heart and caring 
personality that made him a community leader, and a friend.
  Since I came to Congress, Paul and I have worked together on issues 
important to our community of San Diego, and to the flower industry 
worldwide. Paul's boundless leadership and generosity was evident in 
his support of local charities like the Magdalena Ecke YMCA, the San 
Diego Museum of Natural History, California State University San 
Marcos, and the Del Mar Fair Grounds. In addition, Paul's industry has 
given America and the world the poinsettia for holidays. Nearly 80% of 
the world's poinsettias are licensed to the Ecke Ranch, and the 
popularity of this wonderful plant can be traced to Paul's hard work 
and efforts to grow the poinsettia as an indoor potted plant, and to 
make the plant suitable for mass production.
  I will never forget the first time that I met Paul. He came to meet 
me in my home when I was a candidate for the U.S. Congress. He walked 
into my living room, picked up a basket of silk flowers from the coffee 
table, and immediately threw it into the garbage. He told me that he 
would replace it with ``something better'' and later that day sent me 
an arrangement of fresh flowers. Paul was a man who noticed every 
detail, never hesitated to tell you what he was thinking, and who 
always followed through with his promises.
  Paul's life exemplified commitment and service to his community, and 
he leaves behind a legacy for his family, friends, and fellow 
Americans. Earlier this week, Paul's family released a statement that 
read, ``In tribute to Paul's legendary support of the floral industry, 
we suggest that you send flowers today to someone you love.'' I ask my 
colleagues to join me today in honoring Paul's legacy by sending 
flowers to their loved ones.
  I have attached an editorial from our local paper paying tribute to 
Paul and his works. I could share countless stories, but words are 
insufficient to convey the extent of his kind heart, ambition, and 
lifetime of effort to improve our community.

                    Paul Ecke Jr. Succumbs to Cancer

                             (By Adam Kaye)

       Encinitas.--Paul Ecke Jr., who expanded both his family's 
     worldwide leadership in the poinsettia growing business and 
     its emphasis on local philanthropy, died Monday at 76 from 
     cancer.
       Ecke Jr., who was president of Paul Ecke Ranch from 1963 
     until turning it over to his son in 1991, assembled the 
     scientists and salesmen that perfected the mass production of 
     poinsettias first developed by his father. Today, an 
     estimated 80 percent of the poinsettias sold each year 
     worldwide got their start, in some form, from the Paul Ecke 
     Ranch.
       Together with poinsettias, Ecke Jr. leaves a legacy of 
     philanthropy.
       His generosity extended to the Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA, 
     named after Ecke Jr.'s mother, to the Del Mar Fairgrounds, 
     local schools, Planned Parenthood and the Republican Party. 
     Ecke Jr. also was instrumental in saving the landmark 
     Carlsbad Flower Fields from being wiped out in the early 
     1990s.
       ``Paul Ecke Jr. was a model of what it means not only to be 
     successful in business but also a good citizen who was almost 
     unique in how much he gave back to the community and in 
     particular the community's youth,'' said Assemblyman Mark 
     Wyland, who serves on the Ecke Family YMCA board of 
     directors. ``San Diego County owes Paul Ecke a great debt of 
     gratitude, and he will be sorely missed.''
       Ecke Jr. inherited the family poinsettia business his 
     father, Paul Ecke Sr., started in Encinitas in 1923. The 
     business launched Encinitas as a flower-growing hub and made 
     the family a lowkey royalty.
       Ecke Sr., who died in 1991, developed the first poinsettia 
     cultivar from a wildflower native to Mexico, so that it could 
     be successfully grown as an indoor potted plant. Over the 
     years, the family marketed the plant so it became synonymous 
     with the Christmas holidays. In 1963, when Ecke Jr. became 
     president of the family company, production shifted to small 
     cuttings in greenhouses. The company now employs 300 people 
     in Encinitas and 1,000 in Mexico and also has an office in 
     Denmark to handle European distribution.


                              Local works

       Ecke Jr. left his mark in North County in numerous ways, 
     friends and colleagues said Monday. Just down the street from 
     the Ecke Ranch on Saxony Road is Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA, 
     which began as a 5-acre gift from the Ecke family in 1968. 
     Twelve years later, the Ecke family added 15 acres more.
       Today it is one of North County's premier recreation 
     centers, with the region's largest skateboard park, only 
     public BMX course, gymnasiums, ballfields and pools for 
     competitive swimming and diving. Much of the facility's 
     growth is due to Ecke Jr.'s prodigious fund-raising efforts, 
     said executive director Susan Hight.
       A member of the YMCA's board of directors for many years, 
     Ecke Jr.'s signature fund-raiser was the holiday Poinsettia 
     Ball. The annual benefit would raise about $75,000 a year for 
     scholarships for children from low-income families to use the 
     YMCA, Hight said.
       His ``attention to detail'' at the facility would prompt 
     Ecke to visit regularly, to check on the landscaping, pick up 
     trash, and eat a sack lunch while watching the children play, 
     she said. ``He truly treasured the Y,'' Hight said. ``And he 
     will be sorely missed. We came to love him, respect him and 
     treasure him.''
       From 1992 to 2000, Ecke Jr. was a member of the Del Mar 
     fair board. During his tenure, the fair's flower show 
     expanded to a nationally recognized event.
       ``Paul's expectations were always a little higher,'' said 
     Chana Mannen, the fairgrounds' exhibit manager. ``He didn't 
     stand for anything that wasn't great.''
       Ecke Jr. brought to the fairgrounds a penchant for 
     cleanliness and fresh paint. He ordered colorful landscaping 
     for the grounds. And even when he was in his 70s, he rode the 
     scariest rides at the fair. One of his favorites was the 
     heart-stopping 120-foot tall bungee jump.
       ``He decided he'd go on it every night of the fair,'' said 
     Andy Mauro, a former fairgrounds administrator. ``And true to 
     form, he took great delight in involving us all. At some 
     point during that fair we each had to swallow our fears and 
     brave that bungee jump with Paul. None of us would have done 
     it without him, but we all remember our accomplishment with 
     great pride. Paul inspired those around him to reach a little 
     further.''


                          Legacy of integrity

       Ecke Jr.'s son, Paul Ecke III, runs the family business 
     today.
       The motto in the Ecke house was, ``We never give up,'' Ecke 
     III said.

[[Page E823]]

       That and an ironclad sense of integrity created a system 
     that secured many business deals with a handshake.
       ``He showed us by example that you don't lie, cheat or 
     steal,'' Ecke III said.
       Ecke III and his father both attended the little elementary 
     school that was once known as Union School on Union Street. 
     The school had two name changes. It became Central School; 
     then, in 1985, became Paul Ecke-Central School, named after 
     Paul Ecke Sr.
       Over the years, the family has supported the school's 
     sixth-grade camp and literacy programs, Principal Gregg 
     Sonken said.
       This year, Ecke Jr. sponsored a field trip so each of the 
     school's students could visit San Diego Natural History 
     Museum.
       ``He would frequently call and ask if he could come by the 
     school,'' Sonken said. ``He was just a great benefactor of 
     our school. He really took an interest in our students.''
       Ecke Jr. himself was a student at San Dieguito High School, 
     where he graduated in 1942.
       He soon joined the Navy and served in the Pacific aboard 
     the USS Knapp. He was called back to duty in 1951 to serve as 
     an ensign aboard the USS Perkins in the China Sea during the 
     Korean War. Even then, his green thumb was irrepressible. 
     After a day of heavy shelling, sailors had disposed of dirt 
     that shook loose from planter boxes in the officers' mess 
     hall. ``He convinced the captain to send a patrol to (the 
     North Korean) shore to get more soil,'' Ecke III said.


                              Flower power

       During the years between his military deployments, Ecke Jr. 
     earned a degree in horticulture from Ohio State University in 
     1949. From there, Ecke Jr. pioneered the use of greenhouses 
     to grow poinsettias, because the controlled environment 
     produced faster-growing plants that were less susceptible to 
     disease.
       His company would become the innovator that set competitive 
     standards in the industry, said Chuck Gainan, president of 
     the Society of American Florists. ``People would aspire to do 
     it as well as they do,'' Gainan said. Gainan and other 
     agriculture experts say Ecke Jr. has given the flower 
     industry political muscle and other support.
       Bob Echter is a member of the San Diego County Farm 
     Bureau's board of directors who grows flowers on property he 
     rents from the Eckes. ``He has always been very fair with his 
     desire to help farmers grow and compete,'' he said.
       Ecke Jr. was responsible for the construction of the Floral 
     Trade Center in Carlsbad, a trucking and distribution hub for 
     a number of North County flower growers. Beyond North County, 
     he lobbied Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Randy ``Duke'' 
     Cunningham to include language protecting flower growers'' 
     intellectual property in federal legislation that would 
     become the North American Free Trade Act, said Bob Vice, a 
     former colleague of Ecke Jr.'s on the fair board.
       Locally, Ecke Jr. chose not to oppose Encinitas' 
     incorporation in 1986 as long as the family's acreage was not 
     included as part of the city. That decision came at a time 
     when many flower growers were against incorporation, 
     anticipating their property taxes would rise. ``He didn't 
     want to get involved in a controversial situation,'' said 
     former councilman Rick Shea. ``In essence we created a city 
     shaped like a doughnut. The Eckes were the hole in the 
     middle.'' As the city's general plan took shape, the Eckes 
     were open and receptive, Shea said, and eventually annexed 
     their property into the city.
       Lola Larson, a longtime neighbor who attended elementary 
     school with Ecke Jr., said he was ``very likeable and always 
     on his best behavior.'' Except on certain days when he walked 
     to school with boys who threw stones at a glass greenhouse. 
     ``They eventually broke every pane,'' she said. ``Finally the 
     owner got incensed and came to the school. He said `Who did 
     this?' Paul jumped right up and said he did it.''

     

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