Ask a Master Gardener

Remembering Bill Sevier

8/30/20

When I first became a Master Gardener, I really didn’t know what I was getting into or what to expect. This is probably true with most Master Gardeners unless you happened to know someone that was already part of the organization.

I had no idea about the wide range of personalities that were about to become my best friends. Most of us had already left careers in a variety of fields, had gardened casually, and wanted to learn and volunteer with other like-minded individuals.

In recent years, the growing interest in growing food at home has brought an influx of younger Master Gardeners, which is great, but for the most part, the majority of us are still post-retirement age.

The upside to this is that you are surrounded with accomplished people who have a depth of knowledge in a variety of fields. But, forming friendships later in life also has a downside: we tend to have to say good-bye to some really great people too soon.

In the past year, we have lost some great ones; volunteers who have been part of the organization for years and who started many of the outreach programs we enjoy today. We lost one of those foundational Master Gardeners earlier this month named Bill Sevier.

After a distinguished career as a physician specializing in Endocrinology, Bill spent a few years as a nature photographer. He joined Neighbor for Neighbor where he helped remodel homes for needy Tulsans and in 2004 Bill began the process to become a Master Gardener. His wife Vija joined him in this adventure the next year.

As an active nature photographer, Bill and Vija traveled extensively and took lots of photographs. He was good at it. On one of their trips, Bill was inspired by the planters of flowers along the streets in the city of Vernal, Utah. Shortly thereafter, Bill and some other Master Gardeners brought that idea to Tulsa, launching what we call our Tulsa Blooms project. You may have seen our beautiful planters in Brookside and the Blue Dome district. You can thank Bill and a few others for that.

In 2007, Bill thought it would be good for the Master Gardeners to have a weekly article in the newspaper answering horticultural questions. After some convincing, the newspaper agreed, and our Ask a Master Gardener articles can still be found weekly in the Tulsa World. If you have read the Ask a Master Gardener articles over the years, you are familiar with Bill’s work.

Bill also loved to work in our Diagnostic Center answering your emails and phone calls. When I was a Master Gardener intern, I signed up to volunteer with Bill in the Diagnostic Center as often as I could since he seemed to be the “go to guy” for horticultural information. I have since learned that many other Master Gardeners did the exact same thing.

My first memory of Bill in our Diagnostic Center goes something like this. I answered the phone and the person on the other end wanted me to identify a flower from her description. As they told me the specific flower characteristics, I said them aloud as I wrote them down, knowing I would need to research this one. When I hung up, Bill looked over at me and announced the Latin name for the flower in question. Yup. That is what is was like hanging around Bill. But he was not intimidating. He shared his knowledge with others as if we were all on the same quest, he just happened to have written over 500 articles for the newspaper and knew a few things more than we did.

So, imagine my surprise when a year and a half later Bill asked me and another Master Gardener if we would be willing to take over the writing of the Ask a Master Gardener articles. Now that was intimidating.

After turning over the reins to the weekly newspaper article, Bill continued to be a resource by providing photos for the articles from his extensive digital library of over 30,000 photos. You have seen his work here in the paper.

When coronavirus hit and we had to figure out new ways to do things, Bill started answering your horticultural questions from home. Bill enjoyed it (as the quintessential diagnostician) and continued to do so up until a couple of weeks before his passing.

To say Bill will be missed is an understatement. In speaking with other Master Gardeners since Bill’s passing, I heard all the accolades we hope to be said about ourselves someday: the nicest person, funny, smart, approachable, genuine, avid learner, etc. and last but definitely not least - a good friend.

Well done Bill Sevier. You set the bar high for the Master Gardeners and we will do our very best to honor your legacy.