Mourning the loss of Jerry Havel

The Nogales, AZ, produce industry mourns the loss of veteran and friend Jerry Havel.

Havel was with family when he lost his battle with cancer July 17, according to a local obituary. He was 62.

According to a release from Fresh Farms, BB #:194140 Havel started his produce career with Dole bananas, after graduating from St. Norbert College in 1978.

“From his humble beginnings at Dole, to his last days as Sales and Marketing Director of Fresh Farms, Jerry’s passion for life carried over to his work, making him an incredible success,” the release said.

The company release said Havel is survived by his wife Margie, sons Joseph and Daniel, and his daughter Ellie. Family and friends are invited to attend a Celebration of Life Service on Friday, July 26, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. at the Arizona Inn, 2200 E. Elm St., Tucson, AZ 85719.

“In lieu of flowers or donations, please spend time with your loved ones and share a laugh, as Jerry would have wanted.”

Havel was a frequent source for the Produce Blueprints journal and producebluebook.com. This spring he gave his thoughts about how this year may be different than last year for the Mexican produce import business.

He said, “It all depends on supply and demand; we’re strictly a supply and demand business. If there are storms and bad weather in Mexico making our crops short, prices will generally go up. If there is good weather in Florida and the South, then we’ll have oversupply and prices will stay down. So it’s strictly supply and demand [generally] predicated by weather. I’m always optimistic, so I think we’ll have a better year than we did last year.”