Jul 31, 2018Joe Sieczka passes away after long service to potato industry
Joe Sieczka, longtime potato specialist and Extension agent, has died.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Joe Sieczka on July 29, 2018 at his home in New York,” The Potato Association of America (PAA) wrote in a release. “Joe was a potato and vegetable specialist in horticulture at Cornell University for many years and a valued colleague and friend for all those that worked in vegetables.”
The PAA said Sieczka started his career with Cornell as an Extension agent in Steuben County in 1964 and joined the former Department of Vegetable Crops in Ithaca in 1968. He relocated to Riverhead, New York to become the coordinator of Cornell’s Long Island Horticultural Research Center.
Sieczka retired about 15 years ago but was still involved with the PAA, an organization he served in many capacities over the years, the group said. He was PAA president in 1993, named an honorary life member in 2000 and Local Arrangements Committee chair for two New York state annual meetings.
The release ended with, “Joe will be missed by the PAA family.”
