My very dear friend and all-around plumerian Luc Vannoorbeeck, of Florida Colors Nursery, passed away yesterday after a brief illness. I will miss him dearly.

Oh, that is sad news.

He will definitely be missed and my prayers go out to Carol and the family. Heaven will be a prettier place with Luc taking care of the plumerias there. He was a real pioneer and made this earth a prettier place too. Peg

Services for Luc Vannoorbeeck will be on Saturday February 23rd at 1 pm at Sacred Heart Church in Homestead, Florida. Anyone who wishes to come and pay their respects is welcome; if you have plumeria blooms to share you could send them and we will make a lei of them. Contact me for more information.

Here is Luc's obituary.

Luc Robert Vannoorbeeck, inveterate nursery man, plant lover and bonvivant, passed away after a brief illness on February 13th, 2013 at the age of 77.
He was born in Belgium on October 13, 1935 and moved to the USA in 1961 to start work in tropical agriculture. He received his Master’s Degree in Agronomy, specializing in weed control, from the University of Arizona and spent many years in herbicide research.
In 1976 he started his own nursery business in Homestead, specializing in hybrid Hibiscus. After Hurricane Andrew destroyed the area in 1992, he and his wife Carol turned their attention to the growing and hybridizing of Plumeria which they turned into a successful business named Florida Colors.
Luc was a long time member and treasurer of the Tropical Flowering Tree Society, a past National President of the American Hibiscus Society and a past President of the South Dade Chapter of the American Hibiscus Society and the Florida Nursery Growers Association. In addition, he was a member of the Plumeria Society of America, and the Australian Frangipani Society. His success in the hybridizing of both Hibiscus and Plumeria is evident in the many cultivars he created and named.

Among Luc’s surviving family are his wife Carol, his sons Vincent and Philip, daughters Martine and Marie-Joelle, his brothers Philippe, Bernard, Mark, sisters Anne and Christine, his nephew Benoit and great niece Abigail, as well as numerous other relatives both in the US and Europe.

Luc loved sailing, traveling, and eating well, with a special fondness for Belgian chocolates. His infectious Joie de Vivre put a smile on the face of everyone with whom he came in contact. He will be missed greatly.

Friends and family wishing to pay their respects are invited to a mass in his honor at Sacred Heart Church, 106 SE 2nd Rd., Homestead, FL 33030 on Saturday, February 23, at 1 pm. In lieu of flowers it is requested that donations be made in Luc’s name to the National Plumeria Collection at the Naples Botanical Garden in Naples, Florida.