By Robert Paull and Tracie Matsumoto
Francis Tso-Ping Zee died March 29 in Hilo. Before he retired from USDA PBARC in 2014, he was the Supervisory Horticulturist and Curator of the Tropical Fruit and Nut Germplasm Repository at Waiakea.
He received his MS and PhD from the CTAHR’s Horticulture Department in 1979 and 1985, respectively. His MS thesis dealt with rootstocks for Tristeza virus resistance under the mentorship of Dr. Richard Hamilton, while his PhD research dealt with papaya ringspot virus tolerance with his committee led by Dr. Henry Nakasone with Drs, Phil Ito, Charles Murdoch, Richard Hartman and Mamoru Ishii.
After a year postdoctoral stint at Cornell University in Plant Pathology, Francis returned to take up the position in Hilo as Assistant Specialist and Curator of a joint position between CTAHR and the USDA that would become the Tropical Fruit and Nut Germplasm Repository. The unit was federalized in 1989 and became part of the National Plant Germplasm System. Under Francis’s leadership, this successful repository expanded to over 1000 accessions grown on 33 field acres, greenhouses, and a tissue culture laboratory.
Many CTAHR faculty have collaborated with Francis on numerous projects and crops over the years. This collaboration lead to many joint publications and new variety releases.
Our deepest condolences go out to his wife Julia who retired as a CTAHR Extension Agent in nutrition and dietetics located in Hilo. Julia is the daughter of Kikuye Kohashi, a CTAHR 4-H and Home Economist Extension Agent.
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It is with a heavy heart that I share the sad news that Dr. Francis Zee passed away. Francis served as the founding curator of the USDA ARS DKI PBARC Tropical Fruit and Nut Germplasm Repository in Hilo. He started the repository as a UH Assistant Specialist and Curator in 1986 and grew the collection to include 13 designated clonal germplasm collections with over 1000 accessions grown on 33 field acres, greenhouses, and a tissue culture laboratory.
The repository was federalized in 1989 and Francis continued to serve as the curator until his retirement on January 11, 2014.
As curator, Francis had many collecting trip adventures with Ray Schnell from ARS Miami and Ricardo Goenaga from ARS Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, establishing a true collaboration between the sub-tropical and tropical germplasm repositories within ARS. He also fostered the initial genetic characterization of our collections through key collaborations with scientists such as Ray Ming and Dapeng Zhang, which itself was a journey through the different genotyping techniques.
In addition to his curatorial duties, Francis will be remembered as a great horticulturist who provided practical solutions for the growers in Hawaiʻi. He developed many innovative procedures, which included growing “clean” edible ginger, maintaining papaya germplasm in the presence of Papaya Ringspot Virus (PRSV), and pruning strategies for reliable Kaimana lychee production. Francis also introduced new crops to Hawaiʻi such as blueberries, ohelo, and tea.
To those who were fortunate to work with him daily, Francis will be remembered as a wonderful mentor with high standards who was tough but always had your back. He taught us valuable lessons (Francis-isms), to contemplate each action, and shared proverbs with us which you could ponder forever to find the deeper meaning. Francis taught us how to be truly grateful and take care of the people you work with. On top of that, Francis was a wonderful cook and always ordered the best lunches! We are grateful for his many life lessons and will miss him very much!