Grubb Family Tree

From “Work Family History”, vol. I (1969) & vol. II (1994), compiled by Von Gail Hamilton.

Paul published books THE TOMATO and VEGETABLE PRODUCTION AND MARKETING, plus many research bulletins. He was Associate Editor and Editor of the Market Growers Journal; organized the Agronomy Dept. of the College of Agriculture at the University of the Philippines under a Cornell contract; did research on the tomato in Puerto Rico.

He was deacon and Elder of the 1st Presbyterian Church in Ithaca, NY; also Sunday School teacher; Superintendent of the Sunday School for about 10 years. He served as president of both the county and state Council of Churches; was a board member of the Social Action Committee of the Presbyterian Church of U.S.A.

He was a world traveler, fond of camping and fishing.

Cornell University Faculty Memorial Statement
https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/18339/Work_Paul_1959.pdf

Paul Work

June 18, 1886 — July 8, 1959

Paul Work, Professor Emeritus of Vegetable Crops, died in Ithaca, July 8, 1959, after an illness of over two months. He was born at Kerrmoor, Pennsylvania, June 18, 1886 and obtained his early education in the public schools of Knoxville, Tennessee. He received the B.A. degree from the University of Tennessee in 1907, the B.S. degree from Pennsylvania State College in 1910, the M.S. degree from Cornell University in 1913, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1921.

Professor Work came to Cornell in 1910 as instructor in horticulture and registered in the Graduate School. After obtaining the Master’s degree in 1913, he was appointed Superintendent of the Department of Vegetable Gardening, the first such department established in the United States. He was appointed Acting Professor in 1917 and Professor in 1920, holding the latter position until his retirement in 1951. During his active service in Cornell University he taught large numbers of students, many of whom occupy important positions in the vegetable industry and in educational institutions in the United States and in many other countries. He was highly regarded by the students as a personal friend and adviser and was never too busy to counsel with them on their problems. Professor Work’s most important research was in the study of vegetable types and varieties, vegetable marketing, and plant nutrition. He was a recognized leader in the study of types and varieties and had a large following among seedsmen and college and experiment station workers. He established the Vegetable Variety Field Days for workers in this field. In 1954 he was granted the All-American Selections Award of Honor “for outstanding achievement in horticulture” by the American Seed Trade Association.

In addition to his work at Cornell, Professor Work spent vacations and sabbatical leaves gaining experience. In 1925 he engaged in vegetable variety research with the Ferry-Morse Seed Company in Michigan; in the summer of 1935 he conducted packaging research for the Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment Company; in 1939 he taught a course in the College of Agriculture, University of California, and in 1947-1948 he conducted research at the Puerto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station at Rio Piedras. Following his retirement he served twenty-one months as Professor in the College of Agriculture of the University of the Philippines at Los Banos, where he was engaged in teaching new courses and training graduate students in research; as at Cornell this was pioneer work.

Professor Work was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; member of Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, American Society of Horticultural Science, Vegetable Growers Association of America, New York

http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/17813
State Vegetable Growers Association, and Ithaca Rotary Club. He helped organize and was the first secretary of the New York State Vegetable Growers Association, and in 1951 he was elected an honorary life member of the Association. He was a very active worker in the Presbyterian Church of Ithaca, having served as a teacher and superintendent of the Sunday School, and as an Elder for thirty years. He was secretary and president of the Rural Church Institute, president of the Tompkins County Council of Churches, and vice president of the New York State Council of Churches.

Professor Work was the author of two books, "Vegetable Production and Marketing" and "The Tomato", and many technical papers. He wrote many popular articles for agricultural papers and for various newspapers. He was associate editor of "Market Growers Journal" 1922-1953, and editor emeritus from 1953 until his death in 1959.

During World War I, Dr. Work served as Private and Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers of the Army, 1917-1919.

On August 9, 1917, Dr. Work married Grace Nicholas, who survives him. He is survived also by a daughter Margaret (Mrs. W. K. Stone) and three sons, Ralph, Richard, and William. We share with his family our deep sense of personal loss and the memory of a gracious friend and colleague.

H. C. Thompson
R. D. Sweet
R. G. Wiggans