Often referred to as the ?EUR??,,????'??father of modern arboriculture,?EUR??,,????'?? Dr. Shigo spent most of his adult life studying, lecturing, dissecting and writing about trees.

?EUR??,,????'??A tree is much more than a chunk of dead wood,?EUR??,,????'?? exclaims Shigo. ?EUR??,,????'??Trees are alive; they live all year ?EUR??,,????'??round, not just for a short time in the summer. They work during the winter, too. Many people spend time on what goes wrong with a tree; I wanted to study what goes right.?EUR??,,????'??

A memorial service was held on Oct. 11 in Barrington, where many arborists spoke movingly about his influence on their lives and the field of arboriculture.

Shigo was born in Duquesne, Pennsylvania on May 8, 1930. He attended Waynesburg College in Southwestern Pennsylvania. After serving in the Korean War in the Air Force, Shigo returned to his studies at West Virginia University, where he received his Master?EUR??,,????'???s and PhD.

He spent most of his professional career with the U.S. Forest Service. ?EUR??,,????'??Until the 1950s there were only big two-man chain saws; then a manageable, one-man chain saw was developed. One of my assignments was to learn more about tree decay. So I went out and started to dissect trees,?EUR??,,????'?? Shigo notes.

He came up with the idea to dissect trees longitudinally and as a result, he learned that many commonly held concepts about heart rot and decomposition and other theories were wrong.

After retiring from the Forest Service in 1998, Dr. Shigo began another career speaking and writing about trees. He authored over 270 publications and continued to write, study and research literally until the day that he died.

Shigo and his wife Marilyn have a daughter, Judy, and a son, Robert, as well as five grandchildren.

Dr. Shigo?EUR??,,????'???s enthusiasm for trees and his trademark phrase, ?EUR??,,????'??touch trees,?EUR??,,????'?? with which he autographed his books, will live on through the philosophical style of his writing.

Sources: Wikipedia and www.igin.com