Former UM dean, farm pioneer Eggert, 83, dies

VERONA – Franklin P. Eggert, a former professor and graduate school dean at the University of Maine, died at a Bangor health care facility on Tuesday at the age of 83.

Eggert was actively involved in starting the organic farming movement in Maine and was a founding board member of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association in the early 1980s.

“He was kind of a pioneer in research in organic farming techniques and just was always interested in talking about what he was doing and what he knew,” Paul Volckhausen of Ellsworth said Wednesday. Volckhausen, who had known Eggert for more than 25 years, is an organic farmer and member of the Hancock County MOFGA.

“He was always willing to share and talk, and never acted like he was above me just because he knew more than I did about farming or about soil science,” Volckhausen said.

Described as a sort of “imposing” character because of his height – an estimated 6 feet 4 inches – friends and former co-workers described Eggert as a dedicated and cooperative person who was always willing to help.

“He was very intelligent-looking,” Eric Sideman, MOFGA technical director, said, remembering Eggert’s gray beard and “moderately long, gray hair.”

“I just think that by virtue of his stature and the fact that he always felt pretty positive about what he was saying that he probably, at times, was a little intimidating,” Vaughn Holyoke of Brewer said. “But he was also the kind of person that would be willing to listen.” Holyoke was chair of the Plant and Soil Sciences Department, where Eggert taught before he retired from UM in the mid-’80s.

Eggert began his UM career in the horticulture department, conducting research on apples, before being appointed Graduate School dean in 1962. After serving a 13-year stint as dean, Eggert returned to teaching in the Plant and Soil Sciences Department, where he made a commitment to organic agriculture.

“I think that he was a good researcher – that he tried to get answers and not conclusions, and tried to let the data take him where it would,” Holyoke said.

Eggert enjoyed field-study work and was nationally known for his research.

After his retirement from UM in 1986, Eggert continued his commitment to agriculture and how it fit into the earth’s ecology. His focus was food production systems that had minimal impact on the environment. Eggert ran an organic farm at his home on Verona Island with his wife, Barbara.

“He was a family man,” Volckhausen said. “He and Barbara had a very close relationship and, especially in their retirement, worked very hard together on their organic farm.”

Eggert also volunteered many hours with the Hancock-Washington Soil Conservation District.