JOHN G. KUCK

John G. Kuck, a lifelong resident of Mahopac and Putnam Valley, died Tuesday, April 29, 2003. He was 71. He was born in New York City on March 16, 1932, the son of George and Margaret (Fury) Kuck. He graduated form Mahopac High School in 1949 and earned his Associate's Degree at SUNY Farmingdale. He also attended Alfred University and Cornell University. He served in the US Army during the Korean Conflict. He founded Whispering Pine Nursery in 1957 along with his mother and brother Thomas, and although it was his livelihood, gardening was his hobby and his love. He retired in 2001. He was a member of the Long Island Retail Florist Association, The Society of American Florists, The Professional Plant Growers Association, The New York State Nurserymen's Association and the Metropolitan Retail Florist Association, of which he was a former board member. John was a New York State Certified Nurseryman. He was a former instructor for the Metropolitan Retail Florist School of Floral Design and instructed Advanced Floral Design for NY Botanical Gardens. He started the basic Horticulture curriculum of the Northern Westchester Technical School (BOCES). A member of FTD, John served in many leadership capacities during his tenure, including membership on the Board of Directors. He was a Charter Member and Past President of the Putnam Valley Rotary Club and was a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow. He was a former board member of the Putnam County Cooperative Extension, The Putnam County Mental Health Bureau, Putnam Valley Parks and Recreation and Putnam County Parks and Recreation. In 1980, he was nominated "Putnam Valley Citizen of the Year". On November 14, 1954, he married Eileen V. McMillan at St. Joseph's Church in Croton Falls, NY. In addition to his wife and brother, both of Mahopac, he is survived by his son, Brad and his wife Jeanmarie of Mahopac; his daughters: Kathleen of Mahopac, Jill Scariati and her husband Daniel of Seaford, NY, Beth Hundgen and her husband Kurtis of Mahopac and Meg Edwards and her husband John of Hopewell Junction, NY, as well as his grandchildren: Stetson and Sage Hundgen, Lindsay Scariati and Jonathan and Michael Edwards. Visiting will be held today (Thursday) from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at Joseph J. Smith Funeral Home, 692 Route 6, Mahopac, NY. Funeral Services will be held on Friday at 11:00 AM at the Funeral Home, with private Cremation Services to follow.