Fuchsia Friends
They will be missed
Hazel Hubbard
By Elsie Sydnor
Our fuchsia friend Hazel Hubbard
passed away on December
30, 2007. She was 88 years old
and had been married to Leon
for over 68 years. They were always
together, laughing, visiting,
telling stories of their life
together. They joined Salem
Area Branch when Leon retired
because a friend had given him
a year’s membership in AFS.
They visited other branches
and societies, presented programs,
judged fuchsia shows
and enjoyed the conventions.
When driving through Salem,
it was always a treat to visit
with them and enjoy their always
outstanding garden.
Leon gave me this assessment
of Hazel: “As her husband, I
always felt she could do everything.
She painted the house
inside and out, drove trucks on
the farm, oversaw the strawberry
pickers and raised four
children. She was very artistic,
too.”
Since the Hubbard family is
scattered around the world,
a memorial service is being
planned for late July. The exact
date has not yet been set, but it
will be announced in the next
Bulletin or you may call me at (408)257-0752. If you would
like to send Leon a note, his
new address is Avamere Court,
5210 River Road N., Keizer,
OR 97303.
Helen Cella
Helen was an active member
of the Santa Rosa and
Petaluma Branches and was a
past President of the American
Fuchsia Society. She proudly
displayed her fuchsia lore collection
at many of the fuchsia
events. She was also a member
of Hospice, the Young Ladies
Institute, and Woman’s Club.
She was a longtime volunteer
for the Sonoma-Marin and Sonoma
County fairs. After a long
illness she passed away on 31
December 2007 at the age of
83.
Ted Sweetman
E.D. (Ted) Sweetman was
the son of a horticulturist and
was involved in the family
nursery. Ted had an interest
in fuchsias and fuchsia people
not only in his New Zealand
home, but in many countries.
He was founder and President
of the National Fuchsia Society
of New Zealand, an accredited
fuchsia judge and past president
of the Wellington Fuchsia
Society. Ted wrote many
fuchsia related articles and
his book, “Fuchsia Growing in
New Zealand, Australia & the
South Pacific”. Probably Ted is best known for the publishing
of his annual Fuchsia calendar.
Ted grew the fuchsias, took
the photos and his publishing
company did the printing. For
eleven years he donated the
proceeds to the National Fuchsia
Society of New Zealand. As
a travel agent, Ted organized
Fuchsia tours of New Zealand
and Australia of which many of
our members enjoyed and commented,
his tours were the best
they had ever taken. Sadly on
23 January 2008 Ted passed
away.