Van Well Family
The Van Well Family Team
The year was 1946. World War II was over and the boys were coming home, returning from places all over the world most folks had never heard of before. It was a time of optimism about the future… an optimism that hadn’t been felt for almost a decade.
Peter Van Well, Sr. was optimistic about the future. He also had two sons returning from military service who very shortly would be entering the work force in the Wenatchee, Washington area they called home. He wanted a business of his own. One he could work, develop and, in time, turn over to his sons.
His background, experience and interest dictated that the fruit tree nursery industry would be that business. For nearly 30 years Van Well had been nursery superintendent for a prominent nursery firm in Wenatchee and had established an enviable reputation in that trade.
So, armed with optimism and a dream, Pete Van Well, Sr. “bought an old mule and 10 acres of open land in East Wenatchee” and with the help of sons, Jack and Joe, set out some apple grafts. A year later the trio was making peach, pear grafts in addition to the apple grafts and was ready to deliver 23,000 finished fruit trees to commercial orchardists in the area.
Van Well Nursery was established. The years progressed and the firm grew. Pete was president and was joined not only by sons, Jack and Joe but by three other sons, Pete, Jr., Tom and Dick.
Van Well Nursery observed its 70th anniversary as 2016 closed. Pete, Sr. died in 1973, Jack and Joe have passed, too, Tom has retired but Pete, Jr. and Dick remain involved in the company. The third generation of the Van Well family is now also firmly and actively entrenched. Suzanne Van Well is Canadian subsidiary manager, Chris Van Well is scion wood selection, inventory and shipping manager, Joe Adams is in charge of the company’s inventory and information systems, Ric Van Well handles orchard and nursery production operations and Pete Van Well, II is the company’s Business, Sales and Marketing manager.
The company operates 120 acres of orchard and about 700 acres of nursery stock in three different Columbia Basin areas, Wenatchee, Quincy and Moses Lake. Its corporate headquarters are in East Wenatchee where it also has storage capacity for over one million fruit trees.
Over the past 70 years Van Well Nursery has been responsible for the testing, propagation, patenting, introduction and marketing of many notable fruit tree varieties particularly, early on, Red Delicious sports such as Red King, Oregon Spur, Scarlet Spur, Super Chief and Adams Apple. As the fruit industry turned away from Red Delicious, Van Well sought out other exclusive apple varieties such as Auvil Early Fuji, Gale Gala, Red Jonaprince, Redfield Red Braeburn, and Red Cameo. The list of new apple, cherry, pear, peach and apricot varieties continues to grow as the company seeks to identify, produce and market the needs of the next generation of commercial orchardists.
