Joseph J. Tomasello, a former Western Growers’ Board Director, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, September 15, 2017, at the age of 81. Joe also served on the board of the Growers Shipper Association, serving as the organization’s president from 1972-1973.

According to his obituary, Joe was born on Dec. 8, 1935 in Watsonville, to Mary (Crosetti) and Antonio Tomasello. He attended Bellarmine College Prep and earned his business degree from Santa Clara University in 1958. In 1959, prior to joining the U.S. Army the following year, Joe married his wife Lori Triolo.

After his time in the service, Joe and Lori returned to Gilroy, California, where he worked in the family farming business for the next 40 years and raised three children.      

Joe is survived by his children, Mimi (Steve) Riffle and Tim (Kristen) Tomasello; and five grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son, Mark, and his sister, Edith Young.

Western Growers wishes to extend its deepest sympathy to the Tomasello family during this difficult time.   

Western Growers has learned that a relatively new company in eastern Canada may have made recent produce purchases, but there now seems to be conflicting reports of the timeliness of ongoing payments for those purchases. Reports also indicate that the company’s initial monetary net worth, reported by the Red Book, has now been changed.

As always, we encourage members to verify multiple credit referrals before selling any account and to do your due diligence before selling any new customer.

Interested regular member of Western Growers can discuss the particulars of this situation with Tom Oliveri, WGs’ director of trade practices and commodity services at (949) 855-2269.