Mar 17, 2020Longtime New York apple grower George Lamont dies at age 83
Word has been received of the death of George Fredrick Lamont, age 83, of Saranac Lake, New Hork, who died on Friday, March 13, 2020 at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake.
George Lamont, a New York apple grower who “retired” in the late 1990s but was instrumental in forming the Premier Apple Cooperative a few years later, has died.
Lamont died March 13 at Saranac Lake, New York.
Lamont was active in the family’s business, Lamont Fruit Farm Inc., Albion, New York., he was also an advocate not only for the New York apple industry, but the overall U.S. industry, according to Jim Allen, vice president of marketing for New York Apple Sales and the former president of the New York Apple Association.
Complete ownership of Lamont Fruit Farm in Albion, New York, passed in 2010 from Lamont, a sixth-generation fruit grower and well-known apple industry leader, to his long-time protégé Rod Farrow.
Farrow, past president of the International Fruit Tree Association board of directors, first came to Lamont Fruit Farm in 1980, when he came to this country from England to study fruit production. In 1986, he came back again, this time to work for Lamont. In 1999, he began buying in as a partner, a process that ended in full ownership last summer.
Lamont, a 1957 graduate of Cornell University, New York, became a leading voice for the New York apple industry. Upon retirement, he still came to the office every day and continued to be heavily involved in the industry.
Lamont served on boards for many apple associations, including the New York Apple Association, the U.S. Apple Association (when it was known as the International Apple Institute) and the NY State Horticultural Society.
Funeral arrangements are in care of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home, 20 Church Street, Saranac Lake, NY 12983. There will be no calling hours. A Memorial Service will be set for the Spring at the Adirondack Baptist Church in Saranac Lake with Pastor Ryan Schneider officiating as well as in Albion, NY at a later date. Burial will be in Mount Albion Cemetery, Albion, NY.
Friends wishing to remember George Fredrick Lamont can sign the on-line guest book and share their memories here.
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