The Packer
Jerry Taylor, a former director of the Produce Marketing Association, died July 12 from cancer.
He was PMA director from 1979 to 1982, and he worked on packaging innovation throughout his career. He helped introduce the clear concept in produce packaging while a vice president for A&E Plastics Inc., Elgin, Ill.
Taylor’s early career was in produce. He worked for Roger Brothers Seed Co., Idaho Falls, Idaho, from 1969 to 1972. In 1972, he began working at Cal Fruit, La Mirada, Calif., until 1980.
In July 1980, he founded Creative Agricultural Packaging Inc., Hayden, Idaho, which introduced the design and marketing of the first preopened, recloseable vented bags for grapes, cherries and other produce.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Helen, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; daughter Kathy Moore, Hayden, Idaho; daughter Kelly Butkovich, Houghton Lake, Mich.; 7 grandchildren, stepbrother Charley Zavisch, Portland, Ore., and his mother and stepfather, Josephine and Charles Zavisch of Sun City, Calif.
