Jacob Sass -- 1872-1945
........"THEY never quite
leave us, our friends who have passed through the door left open,
to the sunlight above."
....In the passing of Jacob Sass
on December 10, 1945, the American Iris Society lost a charter
member, and one of its most loyal supporters. The iris world has
suffered an irreparable loss.
....Coming to Nebraska as a small
boy, he learned to know the flowers of the prairie, and the beauty
of the native blue flag, I. versicolor. Who knows but that
a boy's pleasure in its slender grace led him later to his hybridizing
of irises. Of such dreams are realities woven. Mr. Jake was a
kindly man, generous to a fault. His the happy faculty of making
friends easily, and keeping them. His boundless enthusiasm, his
joy in life, his desire to share with all that which he found
beautiful, could not but leave a lasting impression on those who
knew him.
....Freely he gave to others of the
iris knowledge gained from years of experience. Equally generous
with gifts from his garden, many present day hybridizers owe their
ability to keep pace with color breaks developed in the Sass gardens
to his gifts of promising seedlings long in advance of their introduction.
....The boy lived eternal in Jacob
Sass. Passing years, leaving the inevitable changes and sorrows
that come to all, could not submerge this quality which so endeared
him to his friends. He followed the rainbow of his boyhood's dream
to its end, secure in the knowledge that his loved work would
be carried on ably by his son, Henry.
........With each returning spring,
with the passing to rest of the flowers in the fall -- the beauty
of the irises will bring to us memories of Mr. Jake. The gardens
of the world are richer from his perception of beauty -- our lives
enriched by the gifts of his friendship.
....Jacob Sass, the man, has passed
beyond our ken, but his memory will live on in the hearts of his
friends. -- Thura Truax Hires.
....In the death of Jacob Sass
on Dec. 10, 1945 in Omaha at the age of 75 the iris and farm world
lost an outstanding figure and something fine has gone out of
the lives of those of us who were privileged with his friendship.
His was an outstanding personality, the finest type of the American
farmer, a man of broad and liberal view point and interested not
only in his primary occupation as a plant breeder but in national
and civic issues as well.
....It was my privilege to have enjoyed
his friendship and that of his elder brother Hans P. Sass for
some years.
....Jacob and Hans were the pioneer
breeders of the Middle West.. Their work extended over a series
of more than forty years. They also experimented with other plants.
Jacob had some fine lilacs of his origination. Hans has done some
fine work with hemerocallis and Oriental poppies. While they had
separate establishments, commercially they polled their interests
in their annual lists.
....Their irises were grown under climatic conditions to try the plants to the utmost. Their farms are in a windswept area with hot sun. An iris of weak substance had no chance to show what worth it might possess. It also had to have a sturdy stem to stand up under those Nebraska winds. These two qualities made their productions ideal for gardens here in the Middle West. Our gardens owe a great debt to their work. -- Sherman L. Duffy