It has been almost two years since the TurfNet community and the turfgrass world were shocked to learn of the death of Jerry Coldiron Jr., CGCS.
A superintendent in his native Kentucky for nearly 30 years before retiring to Florida in 2007 and starting a second career in sales for Hector Turf of Deerfield Beach, Coldiron died Nov. 22, 2017, at age 60.
Coldiron will be remembered during a memorial celebration at Lassing Pointe Golf Course in Union, Kentucky, where he once was superintendent.
A native of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, Coldiron graduated in 1979 from Eastern Kentucky University where he earned a bachelor's degree in horticulture and turfgrass management. He spent his entire greenkeeping career with Boone County Parks & Recreation, where he was a superintendent at Boone Links and Lassing Pointe golf courses.
After retirement, Coldiron and his wife, Susan, relocated to Boca Raton when he embarked on the second phase of his career. The couple were married for 36 years and together had three sons, Josh, Jake and Jared.
He was a past president of the Greater Cincinnati GCSA and the Kentucky Turf Council. In 1988, his alma mater named him the EKU Horticulture Alumnus of the Year.
A longtime TurfNet member, Coldiron embodied the true TurfNet spirit of sharing, caring, compassion and camaraderie. After Coldiron's death, TurfNet established the Coldiron Positivity Awards that recognize individuals within the golf turf industry who live lives of positivity, caring, sharing and compassion for others... or who are experiencing personal hardship due to illness, natural events or job loss... or who do something special for the natural world.
Inaugural recipients named at the 2018 Golf Industry Show in San Antonio were: Mike Morales of the Buccaneer Golf Club in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands; John and Peggy Colo, Jupiter Hills Golf Club, Tequesta, Florida; Adam and Erin Engle, Lake Shore Yacht and Golf Club, Cicero, New York; and John and Nick Paquette, Indian Hills Country Club, Northport, New York.
The 2019 awards were presented recently to Tenia Workman, executive director of the Georgia GCSA, and posthumously to Tom Morris, CGCS, 20-year member of the TurfNet hockey team who passed away at age 61 shortly after Jerry, in February 2017.
