Hugh Hotson; His Life Revolved Around Plants And Microbes

For years, Hugh Hotson's life revolved around plants and the pesky microbes that prey on them.

The energetic 79-year-old retired plant pathologist died Friday, Dec. 22, after a long illness.

Although he served as president of a property and real-estate development firm in Seattle between 1961 and 1982, plant science fueled his career.

His father, the late John W. Hotson, a professor of botany at the University of Washington, may have inspired him, family members say.

In 1940, the younger Mr. Hotson had completed undergraduate and master's degree studies at the UW. He did his doctorate work in plant pathology at the University of Minnesota.

In 1951, Mr. Hotson became one of the pioneer researchers in the development of plant rust, a disease that causes spots and discoloration on plant leaves and stems.

Through much of the 1950s, the Seattle-born scientist worked as head of the agricultural and chemical products division at Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing - or 3M - in St. Paul, Minn. There he developed seed-tape and grass-mat products, before moving his family to Seattle in 1958.

While working at 3M, Mr. Hotson logged more than 50,000 travel miles a year for his job and earned the nickname, "Superman," a family member said.

His daughter, Jan Hotson of Bellevue, says the family has lived in nearly every state in the country because of Mr. Hotson's military and professional work.

On vacation road trips with his family, the tall, lean, red-haired Mr. Hotson sometimes would stop alongside the highway, walk out into a field, and conduct impromptu lessons on plant disease for his three children, Jan, John and Hugh, Jr.

Instead of keeping track of license plates from passing motorists, Mr. Hotson had the kids try to identify the various crops being grown on the farms they drove past.

Even in retirement, Mr. Hotson maintained a four-acre garden, filled with trees and shrubs, at his home in North King County.

Mr. Hotson also served in the military from 1941 to 1947, his family says. During World War II, he served in Washington, Oregon and Alaska with the Army's Coast Artillery, and later with the Harbor Defenses in the Panama Canal Zone. In civilian life, he was a scientist for the Army Chemical Corps.

Mr. Hotson also is survived by his wife, Jo Richardson, and two sons, Dr. John Hotson, of Palo Alto, Calif., and Hugh Hotson, Jr., of Bellevue, plus two daughters-in-law and nine grandchildren.

Private funeral services for Mr. Hotson were to be held today. Remembrances may be sent to the Fry-Hotson-Rigg Fund at the UW Department of Botany, or the Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation at 560 San Antonio Road, Suite 103, Palo Alto, CA, 94306.