J. Brent Loy

Dr. J. Brent Loy, husband, father, grandfather, friend, mentor and plant breeder died on July 24, 2020 at age 79, less than four months after being diagnosed with a rare sarcoma cancer. He spent his last days with his family at their New Hampshire home. His last words were to tell his wife, Sarah, that he loved her.

Brent was a loving, honest, hard working man, who was passionate about his family, sports, and his work as a horticulturalist and geneticist. He was an incredibly patient person, and used his agency to make the lives of the people around him better. Brent was born to John and Lorraine Loy in Borger, TX and spent most of his childhood in Bountiful, UT where he graduated from Bountiful High in 1959. He went on to get his bachelor's degree in horticulture from Oklahoma State University and master's and doctoral degrees in genetics and horticulture from Colorado State University before accepting a professorship at the University of New Hampshire in 1967, where he taught classes and conducted research for the rest of his life. Brent and his wife Sarah were married for 37 years, raising three children and taking great joy in farming the land together. He laughed easily and kept his offbeat sense of humor until the end- it will live on in his three kids. Brent loved sporting, playing intramural basketball several times a week until he was 65, coaching soccer and basketball teams for his kids, actually using his home gym most nights, and enthusiastically participating in a fantasy football league with his sons.

Brent's career as a professor at the University of New Hampshire spanned over five decades. During that time he created the longest running cucurbit breeding program in the United States, and released over 100 commercial varieties of squash, pumpkins, and melons that are grown across New England, and throughout the US and beyond. Brent always possessed humility and never sought recognition, but he received many awards during his career, including the 2009 All-America Selections Breeders' Cup Trophy, the 2015 American Horticultural Society Vegetable Breeding Working Group Award of Excellence, the 2000 Pioneer Award of the American Society of Plasticulture, the Eastern States Exposition's 2020 New England Fellowship of Agricultural Adventurers Award, and was the inaugural recipient of the J. Brent Loy Innovator of the Year Award at UNH in 2011. Each time he received some honor, Brent only remarked that he was glad to have contributed to agriculture. He valued his association with research and academic groups very much, and had great respect for his colleagues. His attitude was not one of competition but collaboration, and he assumed the best intentions in everyone with whom he worked. He was endlessly generous with his knowledge—anyone who had an extended conversation with him learned something about breeding cucurbits. He was such a vibrant, energetic person, it doesn't seem possible that he's gone. We'll just imagine him out in his breeding plots at the Kingman Farm, surrounded by rows of cucurbits, and smiling as he takes a bite from a hybrid melon.

Brent is survived by his wife Sarah and their three children Jamie, Laura, and Reed Loy and his wife Linden Rayton, grandchildren Laurel and Julian, step-mother Chieko Loy and her husband Larry Schultz, brother John Loy and his wife Liliana Gonzalez, sister Lorna Loy, brother Bert Loy, many beloved cousins, siblings-in-law, nieces and nephews, and grand dog Grover.

A funeral service will be held outdoors on Friday, August 14, at 6pm at Autumn Pride Farm, 176 Hedding Rd, Epping, NH. Strict Covid-19 safety measures will be observed: masks and social distancing will be required. Additionally, no food, drink, or restrooms will be available, as a safety precaution. For those safer at home, or far away, the service will be live streamed and recorded, you can access the stream here: https://vimeo.com/446267420/a9d3e11644. The family requests that if you feel it is dangerous to attend, or feel ill in any way, to please stay home. There is an online guest book to write comments and messages on the Cremation Society of New Hampshire website: https://csnh.com/.