David LeRoy Matlock

Dave was born on October 8, 1930 in The Dalles Oregon to G. Lee and Lois Matlock, the third of four children. He passed away on February 28th, 2016 at home in Sumner. Dave moved to Washington in 1933 when his parents purchased a 3 acre farm on River Road in Puyallup, growing raspberries and boysenberries, a cow, and 200 chickens. In 1945, the farm was moved to Alderton on 10 acres. Dave graduated from Puyallup High School then attended Washington State College. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in horticulture, he attended Rutgers University, receiving his master’s degree in horticulture. Dave returned home and worked on the family farm until he was drafted by the Army during the Korean War. He was stationed in Germany, serving in the 48th Medical Battalion, 2nd Armored Division. After he was discharged from the Army, he returned home to work on the farm, setting up a partnership with his dad and brother, Ivan to form Matlock’s Fruit Farms. Over time, the farm grew to an eventual 250 acres, becoming the largest berry farm in the Puyallup valley, employing thousands of school age children over the years and producing over a million pounds of fruit annually. Eventually, Dave and Ivan formed Farwest Nurseries and grew tree seedlings for sale to other nurseries. Dave and Ivan continued farming berries until 1988, and tree rootstock until their retirement in 1996. Dave was married to Georgia Bunch from 1960 and until Georgia’s passing in 2015. After retirement David and Georgia travelled the world, taking cruises and trips to places including Greece, Mexico, France, Istanbul, Brazil, Hawaii, Morocco, Algeria, and Australia. They travelled over 40,000 sea miles and rounded Cape Horn. Dave enjoyed his family, traveling, hiking, fishing, photography and discussing politics and ideas. He was an astute businessman and it seemed there was very little he didn’t know something about. Education was important to him and he was pleased when his children and grandchildren continued their education. Dave is survived by his children Michael Matlock (Nancy) and Cheryl Anne Fox (David), stepdaughter Jeanette Carman (Dick), brother Ivan Matlock (Aurora), sister Ruth Perry (Jerry), six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. The family would like to thank all the amazing staff and residents of Stafford Suites in Sumner for making his last month’s pleasurable. A celebration of life will be on April 23rd at 3:30 at the Washington State Fair, Fair Farm building, at the Green Gate. In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.