The brilliant Jerry Twomey Plant breeder, art collector, entrepreneur
Uncle Jerry, a man for all seasons.
degree from the University of Manitoba, with a major in genetics. Later, Jerry received research scholarships at eight or 10 United States and Canadian universities and agriculture colleges, and he held patents worldwide. At the age of 24, he produced a vigorous pure white
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gladiola with a scarlet blotch. He named it after his grandmother, Margaret Beaton, and the flower won World's Most Beautiful Glad at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, garnering him a $10,000 cash prize at the height of the Depression! At the age of 26, McFayden Seed Company put Jerry in
charge of the seed company producing vegetable seed. He spent the next 20 years researching the presence of trace minerals, plant hormones and enzyme building blocks in leaf feeding. He sold large quantities of leaf-feeding dust in the U.S. and Canada for grains, potatoes, corn and so on.
He was instrumental in work with 2-4D as a weed con-
trol. He arranged a supply agreement with Dow Chemi- cal and was the first to bring 2-4D to Western Canada. He also worked with the federal department of agricul- ture and played a major role in the development of dwarf wheat strains in Russia and Asia. In 1946, Jerry and his brother Paddy started a mail or- der seed company, T&T Seeds, on Lombard Street in Winnipeg. Later Jerry was part of a group of eight indi- viduals who started Terra Chemicals, raising $54 million on Wall Street. Terra Chemicals is now believed to be the second largest fertilizer company in the U.S. On a personal note, Jerry was a collector of Inuit art, starting with the acquisition of three carvings in 1952.
18 • Summer 2018
erry Twomey, one of the founders of T&T Seeds, was an amazing, unique individual with a tremendous sense of humour and an unquenchable curiosity. Jerry received his bachelor of science in agriculture
'All that Jazz' Rose.
He amassed the largest collection in the world, which he later donated to the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Although his heart remained in Winnipeg, Jerry spent
many years in the southern U.S. where he could pursue his love of roses all year long; thus many of his rose intro- ductions have a U.S. label, but Jerry was one of ours. In his later years he was awarded two consecutive All
American Awards for ‘Sheer Elegance’ and ‘All Tat Jazz’ roses, an achievement by amateur rose breeders unheard of before. He was instrumental in the development of the ‘Love and Peace’ rose with Ping Lim. He also won a Eu- ropean award for his rose ‘Audrey Hepburn’. Not only was Jerry intrigued by plant genetics, he was
drawn to the ancestry of people. He was curious about the differing "hybrid vigour”of individuals. An outgoing, personable man, Jerry travelled the world and made friends and acquaintances instantly. He par- layed his ability to connect with people into a gift of sto- rytelling. Jerry loved to “hold court”, whether it be with family or friends, and embellish his many tales or exploits all the while with his unique sense of humour. Jerry was full of a love of life right up to the end. His passion never waned, even when his body had declined at the end. Born in 1915, he passed away April 2008 from complications related to a stroke.
The Hub
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