Dash Between: Avery H. Wilcox Sr., 83, Christmas tree farmer

Avery Wilcox and his second wife, Betty, gathered pine branches for making pine roping and wreathes to sell in the gift shop of their Christmas tree farm in LaGrange Township, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of the family.)

Avery H. Wilcox Sr. had the intelligence, resources and passion to pursue any number of careers.

The lifelong LaGrange Township resident's brother became a NASA engineer. His sister was a dietitian. His grandparents also were college-educated and held "professional" positions in Cleveland at the end of the 19th century before returning to the family homestead in 1909.

But Avery followed the same career path as his father. He loved farming.

When asked what Avery did for fun, his son, Avery II, who carries on the family tradition, said, "He farmed for fun."

The elder Avery had raised sheep and chickens, but his chief crop since the early 1960s was Christmas trees.

Click here to read about "The Dash Between" March 5, 1927, when Avery Sr. was born on the family farm, and Jan. 22, 2011, when he died at age 83. The story appears in the Feb. 27, 2011, edition of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.

Avery Wilcox Sr., the fellow with the rock-a-billy hair at the far right, his son, Avery II (back left) and daughter-in-law, Donna (left, wife of his son, Greg), watch Avery's first wife, Stella, beam as she holds grandbaby, Melissa, in 1976. Stella died in 1980. (Photo courtesy of the family.)