Eigsti, Orie J. (1908-2003)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2003 May 19 p. 11

Birth date: 1908 Jul 23

text of obituary:

ORIE J. EIGSTI

Orie J. Eigsti, 94, of Goshen, Ind., died May 3, 2003. He was born July 23, 1908, to Jacob Eigsti and Lydia (Gerig) Eigsti in Morton, Ill.

He was a 1931 graduate of Goshen College and completed two years at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. He received his master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois.

He married Agnes Weaver on May 22, 1936, in Akron, Ohio.

The major work of his life centered on a scientific discovery he made in 1937, which was that the drug Colchicine, used as a common cure for gout, would change the chromosomes of some plants when applied to them. This led to many positive results for plant breeders. He used this to develop the American Seedless Watermelon variety known as 313.

He was a professor at Greenville (Ill.) College, at the University of Oklahoma at Norman (where he started community gardens during World War II for additional food supplies), at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and at Chicago State University. He was a Fulbright Professor in Bangladesh and in Pakistan for four months each, and worked for Funk Brothers Seed Co. in Normal, Ill., for 10 years. He formed the American Seedless Watermelon Seed Corp. in 1954, which supplied seedless watermelon seed.

He was a member of College Mennonite Church of Goshen. He was a benefactor of Goshen College, with the Eigsti Track and Field being a gift of he and his wife, Agnes. They also contributed to Merry Lea Learning Center and the new music building.

Survivors include his wife of almost 67 years, Agnes; two sons, Karl Jacob of Boston, Mass., and Nicholas Weber of Sarasota, Fla.; two brothers, Willis and Clayton, both of Morton, Ill.; and three grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by two brothers, Emery and Mahlon; and a sister, Minnie Swedburg.

Funeral services were held at College Mennonite Church. Burial was in Pleasant Grove Cemetery of Morton, Ill.