Goodbye old friend!!

irene_b

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Remember, if your tree died, ... you killed it. They don't commit suicide. - Hec DeBrabant -
 

irene_b

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So Mom,


Are you saying I have committed herbicide?
Remember, if your tree died, ... you killed it. They don't commit suicide. - Hec DeBrabant -
This was a saying by Hec...
And if your tree died...Yes you killed it!
Mom

I posted this here to let others in the Bonsai community know that we lost Hec........
 
Last edited:

gottrees

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However in one of the more recent cases that I filed, the detectives believe a squirrel killed and carried the tree off. lol

Ted
 

Attila Soos

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Remember, if your tree died, ... you killed it. They don't commit suicide. - Hec DeBrabant -
This was a saying by Hec...
And if your tree died...Yes you killed it!
Mom

I posted this here to let others in the Bonsai community know that we lost Hec........

Who was Hec and where was he from?
 

bonsaidad

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Hector was a bonsai teacher and past president of the Four Seasons Bonsai Club of Michigan. Many of the club members learned from this gentle man its sad to see him go he was a credit to the bonsai community.
 

Concorde

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Irene, I have many tree on boothill. The trees did not pass away due to my neglect or ignorance, but I may have accelerated their death lol. It was just their time.

Art
 

grouper52

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Remember, if your tree died, ... you killed it. They don't commit suicide. - Hec DeBrabant -

Dan Robinson tells the story of a visit he made years ago to the Royal BC Museum in Victoria. They had a diorama featuring a mature red alder, a local tree, and the sign said that of the hundreds of thousands of seedlings that had been spawned over the tree's lifetime, only TWO had survived to 20 years of age.

This solidified for him his previous advice to beginners that to improve the odds of survival, one should start with mature trees that have already proven themselves survivors.

In a stable population of trees, for any tree surviving to maturity, the average number of offspring also surviving to maturity would have to be one - otherwise the population would grow or decline. In other words, most trees die young in nature.

If we are not entirely working with very mature survivors of hardy species, the odds a tree would have died anyway at some point is very high. This does not entirely negate the negative effects we may have on their life span, but I think it argues against our efforts being the sole cause of death. Much of our collections die, not from our poor care, but because of the vagaries of weather, or diseases, or infestations/pests - the exact same reasons they die in nature. Our care may even, for all we know, result in prolonging the life of a tree that would have easily died earlier in nature, especially some of the less hardy varieties that have been bred for their bonsai characteristics, rather than for their hardiness.

If your child dies, does that mean you killed it? If your dog dies, does that mean you killed it :D

G52
 

treebeard55

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I never had the pleasure of meeting Hector, but the name is certainly known to me. My sympathies to his family and (obviously many!) friends.
 

grouper52

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Remember, if your tree died, ... you killed it. They don't commit suicide. - Hec DeBrabant -
This was a saying by Hec...
And if your tree died...Yes you killed it!
Mom

I posted this here to let others in the Bonsai community know that we lost Hec........

Sorry, Irene. I was crafting my response to the quote while you were clarifying what it was about.

Sorry for your loss of a friend.

Will
 

Bill S

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Somehow I missed the last part Irene, Hec by name I would say is fairly well known by name in the bonsai forums, although I haven't seen any recent activity he was pretty active a few years back.

My Condolences to his family and friends, as well.
 

gottrees

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Remember, if your tree died, ... you killed it. They don't commit suicide. - Hec DeBrabant -
This was a saying by Hec...
And if your tree died...Yes you killed it!
Mom

I posted this here to let others in the Bonsai community know that we lost Hec........

Sorry Irene, I posted my response to the quote without noticing the intent of your post.

Ted
 

irene_b

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Somehow I missed the last part Irene, Hec by name I would say is fairly well known by name in the bonsai forums, although I haven't seen any recent activity he was pretty active a few years back.

My Condolences to his family and friends, as well.
Bill when BT went down so did a lot of information and contacts, I had several email addresses to members from there and kept in contact with many (as well as in the chatroom that still works) including Hec and Carl.
Hec had been fighting cancer and it started spreading...The rest is history...I will miss my chat buddy.
Irene
 
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I couldn't say anything yesterday because I was grieving the loss of our friend. BT has been down so long that I have forgotten what Hec went by there.... maybe more people would realize who we've lost if they knew his handle... Mom can you remember it?

He was just Hec to me... beloved and precious... He nurtured my passion for bonsai, and gifted me with the Moody Blues... whom he loved above all. We used to talk on the phone all the time about trees and anything else that came to mind... he believed in me long before I ever did, and was part of that precious circle who helped a young woman grow a spine.

The losses seem to mount from year to year... Ron- 2008, Behr- 2009, Hec- 2010... but for all the pain of those losses, I am profoundly grateful to have counted them as close friends.

V
 
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