On the QT | The Official Newsletter of GWA August-September 2016 - Page 28

Obituaries
GEORGE DALBY
George Dalby died at the age of 95 on Thursday May 5, 2016 at St.
Catharines General Hospital in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada after a
brief illness. Born in1920, he dedicated his life to horticulture and is
remembered by many for sharing his passion for gardening.
At an early age, Dalby began what was to become his career in
horticulture selling vegetables at a local market. He attended the
Niagara Parks School of Horticulture from 1939 to 1940, but World War
II interrupted his studies. Dalby served with the Royal Canadian Air
Force from 1940 to 1946 and returned to the School of Horticulture,
graduating in 1947. He began his horticultural career working for the
Toronto General Burial Grounds at Mount Pleasant and at York Cemeteries from 1947 to 1953. He joined the Niagara Parks Commission in
1953, serving as the superintendent of horticulture until 1961 when
he became superintendent of parks—the job he held until he retired
in 1985.
Dalby also taught landscape design at the School of Horticulture.
He shared his passion for horticultural as a columnist for the Niagara
Falls Review for 20 years and the Kitchener-Waterloo Record for 16
years. Dalby also hosted a weekly gardening call-in radio show for 19
years on station KCTB from St. Catharines, Ontario.
After guiding horticulture tours in Holland, Dalby was responsible
for the renaming of a tulip to honor the Niagara Parks’ 100th Anniversary in 1985, and oversaw the planting of more than 50,000 bulbs
throughout the Parks.
—Steve Biggs

RYAN GAINEY
Jennings Ryan Gainey, 72, died tragically on July 29, 2016 at his second home in Lexington, Georgia. Good friend and owner of Goodness
Grows nursery in Lexington posted, “Ryan Gainey was in his kitchen
cooking, and something caught fire. The flames spread quickly. Ryan
ran out the back door of his house, grabbed a water hose, and hurried
back into the conflagration to rescue his Jack Russell terriers, Leo, Jelly
Bean and Baby Ruth. Sadly, today, Ryan, his beloved dogs, and his
treasure-filled house are no more.”
In his biography, Ryan describes himself, “Internationally-known,
madly passionate, stimulating, thought-provoking, exuberant, creative,
romantic, whimsical, embracing - mere words are inadequate to
describe the force of nature that was Ryan Gainey. He is gardener,
poet, raconteur, philosopher, mentor, verbite, visionary, designer, and
showman all in one.” Add to that description a devoted dog lover. He
wrote, “I share my life with many living things, but few are as precious
to me as my Jack Russell terriers. They are the children I never had.”
Gainey grew up in Hartsville, South Carolina and studied ornamen-

28

tal horticulture at Clemson University. He later received an honorary
doctorate in letters from Coker College in his native Hartsville.
Best known as a garden designer, his home in Decatur, Georgia
was a living laboratory as well as a showcase for his designs. He was
greatly admired for his sense of community and opening his home
and gardens for innumerable tours. Over the years, his house and
garden were featured in a variety of books and magazines, most
recently in Southern Living Porches & Gardens: 226 Ways to Create
Your Own Backyard Retreat. He designed gardens large and small—locally and around the world. He was in on the conception of Serenbe, a
pioneering community outside Atlanta that espouses the intermixing
of culture, housing, lifestyle and gardens (complete with an eight-acre,
organic farm). Gainey authored two books: The Well-Placed Weed: The
Bountiful Garden of Ryan Gainey and The Well-Set Table (with Frances
Schultz) and wrote numerous magazine articles.
President and CEO of the Atlanta Botanical Garden Mary Pat Matheson called Gainey a “Renaissance man.” His death is a “great loss for not
only our community, but for our country because Ryan was so highly
regarded as an esteemed designer and horticulturist.”
To get a glimpse of Gainey’s garden—and his beloved dogs, watch
this snippet of his garden by former GWA member Arlena Schott.
—Cathy Wilkinson Barash