Herbert David Thurston

H. David Thurston passed away of natural causes on September 26, 2014 after a short illness. He was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in March of 1927 to Homer and Leila Thurston. He studied at the University of Minnesota after a short stint in the US Army, and earned a PhD in Plant Pathology in 1958. He married Betty Hillers in 1951, and together they had three children - Jeffrey, Joseph and David. Upon completion of his doctorate, he joined the Rockefeller Foundation in Colombia as the director of their Plant Pathology program. The family moved there in 1958 and stayed in Bogotá until 1967. While in Colombia, he was promoted to the director of the Rockefeller Potato Program in Bogotá in 1963, and in 1965, to director of Plant Sciences of the Colombian Agricultural Institute.

In 1967, H. David joined the college of Agriculture at Cornell University as a professor of Plant Pathology and International Agriculture. He showed exceptional leadership in training graduate students to deal with plant disease problems of the tropics and developing countries. He developed and taught a graduate course on plant diseases in tropical agricultural development. He retired in 1996 to spend time with his wife Betty in their home on Triphammer Road.

As an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church, H. David was an ardent advocate of mission work, and through the church actively assisted in the resettlement of refugees from Vietnam, Myanmar (Burma), Russia and other countries.

H. David is survived by his wife Betty, sons Jeffrey (Ourania Chilimidos) of Oakland, CA, Joseph (Janet Durkin) of St Paul, MN, and David (Emily) of Ithaca, NY; grandchildren Alexander and George Thurston, Nickolas and Kristofer Chilimidos Thurston, and Aaron Thurston; brother John Thurston (Corpus Christi, Texas) and many nieces and nephews. He was pre-deceased by his brother Charles and sister Virginia.

The visitation will be at Bangs Funeral Home, 209 W Green St, on Friday October 3, between 3 and 5 PM, and the funeral will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church, 149 Honness Lane in Ithaca, on Saturday, October 4 at 11 AM. A private internment is scheduled for Monday. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the H. David Thurston Student Travel Fund by contacting Denise Kessler (phone 651-454-7250, email ([email protected]), to Trininity Lutheran Church (149 Honness Lane, Ithaca, NY 14850), or to Hospicare.