ARIZONA DIRECTOR PROFILE
Gary Pasquinelli: Steps Down after 45 Years of Service After 45 years on the Western Growers Board of Directors, Gary Pasquinelli stepped down in November having served the longest tenure in the 90-plus year history of the association. “Our longest serving board member is not only one of the most active producers in the industry, he puts his time, talent and treasure into everything he does,” said Tom Nassif, president and CEO of Western Growers and a friend Gary for the vast majority of both their working lives. “He has been an invaluable resource for me whenever I need advice on issues affecting our members. His breadth of knowledge in the agricultural field is matched by his political acumen and personal involvement. He will always make the difficult call to any legislator. His love of the Lord and family adds a dimension to his persona that reflects in how he treats friends and neighbor alike. He is a dear friend and will be missed by us all.” with the Jesuits and who served as an altar boy, Notre Dame was the end-all of universities. In 1965, after graduating cum laude from Notre Dame, Pasquinelli headed west to attend law school at UC Berkeley. But soon he decided that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the fresh produce industry. In 1967, he joined Pete Pasquinelli in the family business. His first assignment was in the cabbage patch where he was responsible for its harvest. Compared to the rest of the 4000-acre farming operation, it was a small slice of the pie, just 40 acres…but it was all his. Having successfully managed the cabbage harvest, the following year he was assigned to manage the produce field trucks. For two years, he oversaw the trucks that hauled the lettuce from the fields back to the cooling plants and then was promoted to the position of overseeing the entire harvest. The next 18 years were formative for the young Pasquinelli and Pasquinelli told Western Grower & Shipper that he is also stepping back a bit in other aspects of his life. He has been a deacon in the Catholic Church for the past 27 years with official duties in his local Yuma church. He is also relinquishing those official duties. With regard to his company—Pasquinelli Produce Company, he is also beginning the transition process to new leadership, which he expects to occur on “the near horizon…over the next three years.” Son-in-law Alex Muller, who has focused on food safety issues at the company, is moving into a more senior administrative position provided a platform for constructing the man he is today. During those years he got to know every worker in the operation, all 230 of them. He knew their names, their families and their interests. And he got to where he could speak Spanish fluently. As he described it, “I lived with them out in the field and was with them
to assume some of Gary’s duties as time moves on. Muller was also elected by his Yuma area peers to succeed Pasquinelli on the WG Board of Directors. Pasquinelli attended boarding school in San Jose at Bellermine College Prep. Upon graduating in 1961, he was accepted into several different universities, but the letter from Notre Dame was the one that caught his eye. “When I got that letter, it was like a slam dunk,” he once told Western Grower & Shipper . It made sense. For a youth who attended Catholic grade school and high school
morning to night. I really respected those people. I got an appreciation for what tough work that was.” Between 1975 and 1983, Pasquinelli estimates he ran about 65 percent of the company and his dad ran 35 percent. When his dad passed away in 1984, Gary took over the entire operation. But farming
Gary retired from the board of directors at this past Annual Meeting after serving 45 years.
8 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2019
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