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Ozzie
Coor, as businessman and teacher, has spent
his life helping folks grow things
INTERVIEW BY GARY RIDOUT for the
Smithfield Weekly Sun
 Here's
his transcript:
My name
is Ozzie Coor and I was born in Raleigh at the old
Rex Hospital on the corner of St. Mary’s Street
and Wade Avenue in July 1943. My mother said it
was the hottest place she had ever seen. There was
no air conditioning in the hospital.
My father’s name was E.O. Coor Jr. and he was born
in 1922. He started Coor Farm Supply in Smithfield
on December 1, 1960. He had been working with FCX
(which) was first known as Farmers Cooperative
Exchange and opened its first store in Burlington
in 1934. It
expanded quickly across the United States and
eventually was bought out by Richmond-based
Southern States Cooperative in 1986.
 My
father started Coor Farm Supply in the Gold Leaf
Tobacco Warehouse on Market Street in Downtown
Smithfield. Shown here is a paddle fan used to
advertise the warehouse in its heyday. First
Citizens Bank is now on the property where the
warehouse was located.
In 1960,
I was a student at Smithfield High School. I
remember walking over to the warehouse after
school one day. There was my dad was standing in
the warehouse wearing an overcoat and holding two
bags of pecans. He had bought the pecans on faith,
because he didn’t even have a scale to weigh them
for sale. He had made an arrangement with a pecan
sheller to get the pecans ready for sale.
It was a quiet start to a very successful
enterprise.
In March of 1975, Coor Farm Supply expanded its
services to the people of the community. According
to The Smithfield Herald: "While many
business concerns are cutting back, Coor Farm Supply
of Smithfield is expanding. The company has built
and placed in operation a 'blend' fertilizer
plant... located in a new building on property
formerly occupied by Taylor Coal and Oil Company on
Malta Street in Smithfield." The
entire Coor Farm Supply enterprise moved to
this location in 1981.
I
have always loved agriculture and horticulture
and never really considered another field of work.
The farm-supply business had always fed the family
when I was a child and has been good to me and my
family since then.
I went to East Carolina College (now East Carolina
University) in Greenville. I then transferred to
North Carolina State College (now North Carolina
State University) and obtained a degree in Animal
Husbandry. Some of the work we did at Coor Farm
Supply involved animals, so I thought that degree
would be helpful. The Veterinary School had not yet
been established. Actually, our Animal Husbandry
class was unique because we had the first female
student to ever enroll in the curriculum. We were
making history at North Carolina State!
Coor Farm Supply is unique in that we are an
independent business. We are not associated with any
chain store or other business. We manufacture our
own fertilizer and sell a full line of agriculture
chemicals and products to homeowners and farmers.
For example, we are currently selling crop
protection covers to farmers for broccoli, lettuce,
strawberries, and other crops.
I was just on the phone with a woman from
Massachusetts who is in dire need of crop covers.
The supply-chain issues that our nation and world
are facing right now are making it very difficult
for growers and retail establishments.
We have observed a change in what farmers are
growing in this area since the business started.
Early on, farmers were growing corn, wheat, tobacco,
soybeans. We are working with farmers now on more
specialty crops such as sweet potatoes, other fruits
and vegetables, and even Christmas trees. We sell a
lot of our products to greenhouse growers – (in)
most of Eastern North Carolina, Southeastern
Virginia, Northern South Carolina. The Internet has
increased our range so that people all over the U.S.
do some business with us.
I
have done quite a bit of work with the Extension
Service through North Carolina State
University. This is a statewide program that helps
gardeners, farmers, and agriculture-related
businesses. I have taught Master Gardener classes in
Johnston County and in several other counties over
the last 40 years. I have gone to a few other states
to teach classes to the Master Gardeners. It's very
enjoyable to share my 60 years of experience and
knowledge with these eager people.
Currently,
my immediate family has a nursery where we sell
fruit and vegetable plants and trees. It is called
Rainwater Farms and is located between Wilson’s
Mills and Clayton. We sell many fruit-bearing trees
and plants including apple trees, fig bushes, and
citrus bearing trees.
A long-time farmer, Ronnie Johnson, said this about
the Coor family:
"I
first met Ozzie Coor and his father, Ovid, in the
1960s when I was a teenager. I remember Ozzie’s
father was a short man who wore glasses and a
'Sunday hat' which is called a fedora. He
never wore a cap like the rest of us....
"Ozzie has a younger brother, Tony. In the early
1970s Tony was drafted into the army and sent to
Vietnam. Mr. Coor asked if I would write him a
letter which I did.
"Ozzie has always struck me as a very
knowledgeable and caring expert in the
agricultural area. You can ask him any question
about plants, herbicides, or fertilizer and he
will know the answer or find it in a short time.
There has never been a better person who can tell
you exactly how to solve a gardening or farming problem.
He is loyal to his customers and looks out for
them."
Pictured in this clipping from an item
about the family business in The Smithfield
Herald of July 10, 1981 are (left to right)
Ovid Coor with sons Ozzie and Tony.
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