[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.
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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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