HRI announces the Gunter Mecking Memorial Scholarship Fund

Photo courtesy the Gunter Mecking Family.

The friends and family of renowned industry veteran, Hans Gunter Mecking, recently created a lasting tribute to Gunter. Partnering with the Horticultural Research Institute, loved ones have established the Gunter Mecking Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship will benefit green industry students who aspire to the same qualities that made Gunter so special: hard work, honesty and commitment to the industry.

Gunter was known specifically for his work in bringing peat moss solutions to North America. According to his long-time colleague and friend K.C. Browne, “no one understood the function of peat moss better than Gunter Mecking.”

Gunter’s family had a peat moss business in Germany with ties to Klasmann-Deilmann. When he was nearly 30 years old, Gunter became interested in growing the family business and traveled to Canada in search of a location for his peat bog.

He landed on a spot in Tabusintac, New Brunswick, Canada, and set up shop to develop a peat bog and business with his cousin, Bernd Georg Mecking, under the name Heveco. Heveco became the first Canadian peat moss producer to offer commercially available mixes, and it is still in operation today under the ownership of the Scotts Company.

Gunter supplied much of the peat moss from the New Brunswick factory to the J-M Trading Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. J-M Trading was run by Gunter’s uncle, John Mecking. After several years of building the business in New Brunswick, Gunter moved his wife and two kids to Chicago in the early 1970s to work in sales for his uncle John’s business.

Gunter had some training in accounting but none in the peat business, but he was outgoing, and he knew his product and customers. Gunter was an excellent salesman and he was incredible with numbers. This gift enabled him to pack peat moss delivery trucks with extreme efficiency.

Gunter retired from the J-M Trading Corporation at 65 but desired to continue working. He found a fit with the Lambert Peat Moss Company and continued his sales career until a few years before he passed away.

The Gunter Mecking Memorial Scholarship fund was established at $20,000 and quickly grew to over $32,000 as more friends and colleagues learned of the endeavor to honor Gunter. Initial supporters, including Peter Orum of Midwest Groundcovers, LLC, Gabriel Lambert and K.C. Browne of Lambert Peat Moss Company, Joe Hobson of Midwest Trading Inc., and his daughter Maria attest that Gunter would have been extremely honored and appreciative of this fund in his name to support our industry’s young leaders.

To donate or to support other HRI initiatives, call (614) 487-1117 or visit www.hriresearch.org.

Article provided by the Horticultural Research Institute.