Stanley Charles Hoyt

Stanley Charles "Stan" Hoyt October 4, 1929 - November 30, 2019 Wenatchee, WA Stanley Charles "Stan" Hoyt, age 90, a 62-year resident of the Wenatchee area, passed away on November 30, 2019. Stan was born on October 4, 1929, in Alameda, CA, to Fred and Elphie Hoyt. He received his early education in Oakland, CA, graduating from Castlemont high school in 1947, Valedictorian of his class. He received a B.S. in Entomology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1951, and attended graduate school there in 1952. He was a member of Theta Chi Fraternity. After serving two years in the Army, stationed in Korea with the 48th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital and studying hemorrhagic fever, he returned to coursework at Berkeley, completing a Ph.D. in 1957. He married Beverley Jeanne Carpenter at Berkeley, CA, on August 6, 1955, living in Lafayette and Walnut Creek, CA, before moving to Wenatchee. In 1957, Stan joined the staff at the Washington State University Tree Fruit Research Center (TFRC) in Wenatchee as a Research Entomologist. He worked in that capacity until 1982, becoming Superintendent of the Center and serving in that post until retirement, in 1993. In 1970, Stan received a Fulbright Award, spending nine months, along with his family, in Nelson, South Island, New Zealand, where he worked for the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. He was a member of the Entomological Society of America, receiving the Chemical Industries Basel- GEIGY Recognition Award (1973), and the C.W. Woodworth Award-Pacific branch (1989), also serving as President of the Pacific Branch in 1983. The focus of Stan's scholarship, sustainable integrated pest management, led to ground-breaking research investigating the disruption of biological control of spider mites by a predatory mite species in apples. At a time of crisis in the apple industry, when control of spider mite pests with pesticides was nearly useless, Stan's research identified a predator of spider mites that was surviving in a few orchards. His subsequent research lead to a program that combined selective pesticides to control other apple pests while the predator mite provided complete control of spider mites. The program Stan developed was adopted by the Washington apple industry and laid the foundation for conservation biological control as the most successful and durable integrated biological control program in its history. Based on Stan's research, he was recognized internationally as the "Father of Integrated Mite Management." In October of 2019, Stan was recognized for his contributions to the apple industry with the naming of the WSU TFRC Entomology building in his honor. Stan was a Paul Harris Fellow and 36-year member of the Wenatchee Rotary Club, member and President of the Board of Directors of the Community Resource Center, served on the boards of the Wenatchee Valley Symphony, United Way, and the Wenatchee Valley College Foundation. He was Chair of the KFAE Public Radio advisory board which was instrumental in bringing Northwest Public Radio to Wenatchee. In honor of Stan's volunteer service and various contributions to the apple industry, he was named Apple Citizen of the Year for 1993 by the Washington State Apple Blossom Festival. In addition to his public service, Stan enjoyed music, performing with the Columbia Flute Society for almost 20 years. He and his family were also active in the Sew & So 4-H Club of Wenatchee for many years. When not working or playing music, Stan could be found in the out-of-doors, spending many free hours fly fishing, hiking, and skiing in the Cascades and British Columbia. He had a keen love of insects, animals, birds, and plants of all forms and could identify most all by their animal and biological taxonomies. His other hobbies included photography, gardening, and watching sports, WSU Cougar and Seattle Seahawks football in particular. Stan and Beverley travelled extensively in their retirement years and participated in more than forty elderhostel programs around the globe. Survivors include his wife of 64 years, Beverley of Wenatchee, WA; daughter, Kathleen (Mike Kentley) Hoyt; grandson, Kieran of Bend, OR; son, David (Chris) Hoyt of Pullman, WA; granddaughter, Ariana (Jon) McDonnell of Seattle, WA; brother, Jim Hoyt of Seattle, WA; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by daughter, Kristine Hoyt. A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, February 1, 2020, at the Wenatchee Golf and Country Club, 1600 Country Club Drive, East Wenatchee, WA. Those wishing to honor Stan may make a charitable donation to the Stanley and Beverley Hoyt Tree Fruit Excellence Fund, Attn: Britta Nitcy, WSU CAHNRS, P.O. Box 646228, Pullman, WA 99164- 6228. This fund will support teaching, graduate student research in Integrated Pest Management, and Tree Fruit Entomology at the Wenatchee Tree Fruit and Extension Center. You are invited to view his online tribute at www.HeritageMemorialChapel.com and leave a memory. Arrangements are in the care of Heritage Memorial Chapel, East Wenatchee, WA.