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Obituary

Harriet Ferris, county citrus pioneer

She and her late husband for decades owned Ferris Groves, with hundreds of acres filled with citrus trees, a packing house and a retail store on U.S. 41.

By JORGE SANCHEZ
Published August 11, 2005

INVERNESS - Harriet D. Ferris, who along with her late husband Doc pioneered the citrus industry in Citrus County, died Tuesday (Aug. 9, 2005) at the Avante of Inverness nursing home. She was 94. The Ferrises owned Ferris Groves, and the family name is still carried on the retail store on U.S. 41 in Floral City and the packing house behind it, even though the Ferrises haven't owned the operation for more than three decades.

Mrs. Ferris continued to live in the couple's home on Duval Island, surrounded by the orange groves, until she went into the nursing home about two years ago, said her great-niece, Debbie Johannes Sweat.

The Ferris' Citrus holdings also included a packing house and many acres of citrus groves. They sold the business to a corporation in the early 1970s, said a staffer at Ferris Groves.

In the book Back Home, A History of Citrus County, author Hampton Dunn writes that Doc Ferris inherited 350 acres east of Floral City and grew citrus on 250 of those acres. Each year during the time he owned the business, Ferris Groves would send a box of citrus to the president of the United States and the governor of every state except California. California was slighted because it was a rival citrus producer, according to the book.

Mrs. Ferris was a member of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church and the Inverness Golf and Country Club.

Marcia Beasley, a Floral City resident and president of the Floral City Heritage Council, recalled meeting Mrs. Ferris several times, but said she hadn't seen her in many years.

"She loved her cats," Beasley said. "It certainly is the passing of an era."

The Ferrises had no children. Other survivors are a nephew, George D. Johannes, Inverness; a great-nephew, Tim Johannes, Schaumburg, Ill.; and a great-niece, Debbie Johannes Sweat, Inverness, and her husband, Randy.

Mrs. Ferris was preceded in death by her husband Doc in 1975. All funeral arrangements, including cremation, will be private.

Jorge Sanchez can be reached at 860-7313 or e-mail at sanchez@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 11, 2005, 00:42:17]