Jack Wells, middle, while volunteering at the Museum in the late 1990s with (right to left) David Gavin, Jack Cardon, former assistant bonsai curator Dan Chiplis and Warren Hill.
The National Bonsai Foundation is sad to announce the passing of former Board of Directors member Jack Wells.
Wells was an establishing member of NBF in 1982, served on the Board for many years and previously held the top post at the Potomac Bonsai Society.
“Jack’s dedication to and history of the Museum was evident from the start,” NBF Co-Presidents Felix Laughlin and Jack Sustic said in a letter to NBF board members. “As a friend, mentor to many and bonsai leader, Jack played a significant role in the development and appreciation of the art of bonsai in our nation’s capital.”
Jack and his wife Kathi at an NBF reception in 2011 talking to the U.S. National Arboretum’s then-Director Tom Elias.
Born in Independence, Oregon in 1925, Jack grew up on the family farm which eventually became a century farm. He graduated from Oregon State University in 1951 from the College of Agricultural Sciences with a major in horticulture, according to his obituary.
Through the International Foreign Youth Exchange program, Wells traveled to Bolivia where he discovered his love for agriculture. While working with the USDA as an Agriculture Marketing and Seed Specialist, Wells traveled to 68 different countries to educate on agriculture improvement techniques. He also worked for the American Seed Trade Association, according to his obituary.
He is survived by his wife Kathi, four children, two stepchildren and 16 grandchildren, his obituary states.