On November 6, 2025, Dave Wilson Nursery (DWN) hosted about 200 people – from family to friends, co-workers, and people throughout the nursery and farming industry – to celebrate the life of family member and long-time DWN owner, Robert Woolley. Woolley passed away in May after a long illness.
Woolley was born in Stockton, CA in 1949. After graduating from high school in Modesto in 1967, Woolley attended San Francisco State University, where he studied traditional and artistic woodworking. He later became an expert cabinet maker and award-winning furniture designer.
Woolley later applied the same diligence and creation of exceptional quality to developing and commercializing nut, fruit and ornamental tree cultivars. After moving to the Central Valley with his wife, Jane Wynne Woolley, and their daughter Erica in 1980, he joined his father-in-law, John Wynne, in managing DWN in Hickman. The Nursery had been founded in 1938 by Dave Wilson, Jane’s grandfather. In 1989, Robert and Jane acquired the company, preserving its identity as a family‑owned enterprise while professionalizing and expanding its operations. Under their 30+ year leadership, the nursery added the 640‑acre Red Rock Ranch in 1996, incorporated in 1999, and grew to farm more than 1,000 acres and produce over four million trees annually for both commercial orchards and the home‑garden trade. Robert’s leadership positioned DWN as the nation’s largest producer of fruit, nut, and shade trees.
Robert’s ownership coincided with some of the most important varietal and rootstock innovations in modern orchard crops. Continuing John Wynne’s close relationship with Zaiger Genetics, Robert positioned DWN as the private propagator and exclusive U.S. licensor for many of their introductions, including key rootstock advances and the Independence® self‑fertile almond. He called Independence® “huge” for growers, as it reduced reliance on pollinizer rows and beehives.
For decades, Woolley and other team members gathered at Zaiger Genetics every Wednesday during fruit season to taste-test and discuss prospective new varieties. In cherries, Woolley promoted the use of inter-stem rootstocks to widen the range of “cherry ground,” enabling production on soils previously considered unsuitable. He often shared this practical knowledge with growers in California and beyond. Beyond commercial varieties, he supported the preservation and propagation of non‑commercial heirloom apple cultivars.
Off the farm, Woolley played a central role in advancing clean‑plant and nursery certification programs. A respected industry statesman, he chaired the California Fruit Tree, Nut Tree and Grapevine Improvement Advisory Board, which advises the California Department of Food & Agriculture on registration and certification of nursery stock and funds research to improve plant health. At UC Davis, he served as one of the co‑chairs of the UCD – Industry Task Force that reshaped the Foundation Plant Materials Service (now Foundation Plant Services). Nationally, he testified before both the US House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture and the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, speaking on behalf of the nursery and greenhouse sector about labor, specialty crop competitiveness, and the critical need for a robust National Clean Plant Network. He also worked closely with regulators and researchers on issues such as nematode certification and fumigation alternatives, emphasizing “zero tolerance” standards for nursery stock destined for commercial orchards.
Colleagues remember Woolley as combining a designer’s eye with a plantsman’s pragmatism—someone equally at home discussing joinery, color and form as he was talking about rootstocks, fumigants, or clean‑plant protocols. His work took him across California, the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and internationally to Mexico, Spain, Australia, and elsewhere, sharing expertise on tree selection, propagation, and orchard establishment. His collaborative spirit was evidenced at his Celebration of Life event, where almost every major California tree nursery was represented.
Through his intelligence and passion, creativity and competence, Woolley advanced the fruit and nut tree industry in California and beyond, enriching the lives of those around him along the way.
Woolley has reunited with his wife, Jane, who passed away in 2007. Woolley is survived by his daughter Erica, the current owner of DWN.