Ted Gilcrease, founder of the Gilcrease Orchard, was born on June 29th, 1916. If he were still alive, Ted would be 93 today. If you would like to share a pleasant memory of Ted Gilcrease, please visit our Contact page.
In 1946, when Ted Gilcrease was 30 years old, he assumed land contracts from Archie and Irene Smoke. For years, Ted spoke of plans to build a house at this new location, surrounded by trees and alfalfa fields. In 1973, with the help of long-time employee Bill Allan and the step-sons of John Mike, who had been with the Gilcrease family since 1945, Ted started by cultivating his first alfalfa fields on the desert plot. When friends asked when the house would come, Ted would just grin and suggest that there was so much more to do first. It would be 12 more years before the fruit trees arrived. In 1985, Ted worked with Bill Allan, Benton Racel and several teenage boys to begin planting what would end up being over 6000 trees, including apple, pear, peach, apricot and fig.
After struggling for years with back problems and Parkinson's disease, Ted died on November 28, 2003, just two days before Thanksgiving of that year. For those who knew and loved him, Ted is still dearly missed.
Updated June 2009:Read KVBC News 3 article
In June 2009, a new board was formed to oversee the Gilcrease Orchard Foundation. Board members consist of:
- Bill Gilcrease
- Thalia Dondero
- Corinne Escobar
- Robert Murray
- Helen Mortenson
- Bill Allan
- Linn Mills
Updated May 2009:
After a 40-year relationship with the Gilcrease family, Mary Ellen Racel is retiring. Racel was first introduced to Ted Gilcrease in 1965, when she bought hay for a cow that her family purchased in anticipation of moving to a home that was located between the Gilcrease Ranch and what was then Tule Springs Park. Racel remembers meeting Elda Gilcrease, who she said was a strong woman who was a bit reserved but very kind to her family. Although she was usually dressed for work on the ranch, Racel remembers one day when Mrs. Gilcrease showed up, dressed in her Sunday best, trying to get neighbors to support some issue she found the county commissioners were discussing.
Elda Gilcrease died the same year that the Racel's home burned to the ground. By then, Bill Gilcrease was staying in town, and Ted was living in an apartment he'd built on the ranch property. With the ranch house nearly empty at the time, the brothers offered its use to the Racel family while their home was being rebuilt. Almost immediately, the Gilcrease brothers began to join the Racel family for evening dinners. The following summer, they accompanied the family on a drive to visit relatives who owned a Christmas tree farm in New Mexico. That would be the first of many Racel family vacations and holiday gatherings that would include Ted and Bill Gilcrease.
The Gilcrease family struggled for many years as farmers. Just as they began to get their head above water, Elda's death in 1968 put the farm in jeopardy, as there was no cash to pay the huge inheritance tax debt. An exchange of part of the ranch for rental buildings in town, and an agreement with the IRS to pay the tax debt over a 10-year period allowed Ted Gilcrease to keep the ranch afloat. Neighbors pitched in where they could. Frank Racel helped Gilcrease and his foreman, Bill Allan, to complete the silo that was to hold cubed hay. He traveled to northern Nevada with Ted to pick up supplies when the first part of the irrigation ditch was converted to pipe, and to Arizona to pick up inventory during Bill's attempt to become a product distributor.
Mary Ellen Racel assisted in tasks that varied from freezing and canning fruit to running miscellaneous errands for the brothers. In 1978, after the inheritance tax debt was paid, and the IRS released control of their assets, Ted began training Mary Ellen to take over management of the Almond Tree Center office buildings. In addition to his tutelage, Ted also sent her to several classes and seminars to improve her management skills. When the office buildings were sold, and his health began to deteriorate, Ted turned over many of the administrative tasks of the Gilcrease orchard to Racel. She worked closely with long-time foreman Bill Allan, who oversaw the planting and harvesting of fruits and vegetables, and the two continued to be Ted Gilcrease's closest friends and confidants.
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Racel describes Ted Gilcrease as someone who was always curious, always teaching himself something new, and always looking for a challenge. In his fifties, he joined her children when they learned both tennis and chess. Ted became an avid player of each game, often winning tennis matches against opponents much younger than him, and playing chess with people throughout the world, through a post card league. Ted became especially close to the Racel's youngest son, Benton, who spent his last few years living part-time at the ranch. |
Ted took over management of ranch finances in 1940, when the family still owed a significant amount of money on their original land purchases. Within 10 years, he had not only paid off the 1925 mortgage, but had acquired almost 600 more acres of land. In the 1960s, as land values slowly began to rise, and farming declined, he made several sales with owner financing, which helped to support farm upgrades. In 2001, the Gilcrease brothers made a generous offer to sell 40 acres to the Clark County school district so that Arbor View High school could be built. Having been able to save the ranch through a land exchange after his mother's death, Ted hoped that a similar agreement could be used to help support his orchard, and his brother's animal sanctuary. The Gilcrease brothers exchanged the school property for rental homes that would provide a monthly income for their foundations. To complete the exchange, they acquired the remaining six acres of Racel land, which would be sold three years later, at triple the price, to pay inheritance taxes after Ted's death, and allow Bill Gilcrease to move some of his animals to Armargosa.
In 2006, flooding rains caused severe damage to the Gilcrease Orchard. Although many community members assumed that Gilcrease trusts would be able to pay for repairs, sales that included owner financing and land exchanges left the Gilcrease properties "land rich, but cash poor." In a controversial move, the board of directors was forced to sell off the damaged property. As director, Racel received public criticism for a decision that board advisors claim was necessary to save the remainder of the orchard.
Racel says that Ted always treated people fairly, and was one of the last people she knew who always kept his word, even on a deal sealed with a handshake. He was generous with his employees, offering health insurance, housing to key employees, tuition assistance to those attending college classes and even employee loans. He was also generous to the community, donating to more organizations than most people will ever know. Racel says that Ted's presence was sorely missed after his 2003 death, but that she and Allan have done their best to continue running the orchard as he would have. Now in her 70s, with six surviving children and 17 grandchildren, Racel says she's ready to relax and spend more time visiting family. April 2009 will mark her last month as director of the Gilcrease Orchard.
