Floyd Remlinger, 79, Carnation Farmer -- Started With 5 Acres On Eastside In 1930

Floyd Clinton Remlinger, founder of the popular Remlinger Farms in Carnation, knew the gritty-damp hands and feet of a farmer working sunup to sundown, coaxing food from loam or clay.

He knew his beans, berries and butternut squash, his tomatoes and cukes. He had harvested tons of produce since he was knee-high to a hoe.

He took time for Grange-hall socials, family picnics and fishing trips. He doted on his five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. And he served on the Carnation City Council, was a commissioner of Fire District 35 before it became District 10, and belonged to Carnation Sportsman Club.

"He did a lot of fishing, and he got pretty good at it," said his brother, Virgil Remlinger of Monroe.

"But he just liked farming."

Mr. Remlinger died Tuesday (Feb. 4) of the effects of a stroke. He was 79.

One of five boys born to a farm family in Harrison, Idaho, he stayed with farming through the years.

In 1930 he moved with the family to a five-acre spread on Northup Way in what is now Bellevue and sold his mother's flowers for spending money. He settled in Carnation in 1936 and with his brother ran greenhouses in which he raised cucumbers and tomatoes.

When he married in 1940, he bought his first big farm, raising strawberries and corn to sell to stores and food brokers.

He was rejected for military service in World War II because he had flat feet, according to his family. But he was able to work in the Seattle shipyards. He also acted as a distributor for a local winery.

In 1951, Mr. Remlinger bought the acreage that he and his family would develop into the nearly 400-acre spread they own today at 32610 N.E. 32nd St. in Carnation. He branched out into the cultivation of other fruits and vegetables to sell to Safeway and to Associated Grocers.

Mr. Remlinger added to the Carnation acreage over the years, and, with his son, ran several farms east of the Cascade Mountains.

In 1965, he turned business operations over to his son, Gary Remlinger of Carnation, who changed the farm into a retail and U-Pick farm and seasonal tourist destination with a cafe, store and farm-animal petting zoo. The farm also began playing host to corporate picnics.

"I was more fortunate than some people in being able to work and live side-by-side with my father all my life," said his son.

Mr. Remlinger still helped with the chores when he was able, joining with his son's hardworking family.

His other survivors include his wife, Eleanor Remlinger of Carnation, and his daughter, Janet Remlinger of Omaha, Neb.

Services will be at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Tolt Congregational Church, 4851 Tolt Ave., Carnation.

Remembrances may go to Carnation Senior Center, 4610 Stephens Ave., Carnation, WA, 98014, or to the Tolt Historical Society, Box 91, Carnation, WA, 98014.