Former state agriculture commissioner, local nurseryman, and community activist Ed Porter died Thursday. He was 80.
“He was a man of integrity,” said longtime friend and Capitol Hill colleague, former state Rep. Ivey Hillis who served with him after Porter was appointed as agriculture commissioner by then-Gov. Ray Blanton in 1975. “He served the people of Tennessee well and was a real credit to his home Warren County.”
Porter began his career in the agricultural industry with a bachelor of science degree in ornamental horticulture from the University of Tennessee in 1958. He worked for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture as a field entomologist before assuming the role of office manager at Forest Nursery in McMinnville. In 1966, Porter joined Triangle Nursery and became owner in 1968.  In 1995, he sold Triangle nursery and established Porter Farms.
An accomplishment of Porter’s dedication to the industry is the establishment of the Tennessee State University Nursery Research Station in McMinnville.
The creation of the Nursery Research Center is a direct result of his foresight, initiative and perseverance.
“He was a joy to be around,” Hillis noted, adding Porter never compromised his beliefs and was always a man of his word. “He was a dear friend.”
Porter served more than 50 years in the nursery industry and was a leader championing the causes and issues that kept the nursery industry strong and growing. He has held numerous positions in ANLA, including holding the positions of past president, board member, Tennessee governor and lieutenant governor. Porter also was a member and past president of ANLA's Wholesale Nursery Growers of America division.
 He also has served as the chairman of the Legislative Committee for the Southern Nursery Association, member and president of the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association, and member and president of the Middle Tennessee Nursery Association. In addition to his posts in various industry associations, Porter also has held posts as the Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture under the Gov. Blanton administration, state chairman of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service Committee, secretary-treasurer and vice president of the Southern Association of the Tennessee Depart-ment of Agriculture, and chairman of the Tennessee Forestry Commission. Porter has also held many community leadership positions.
Porter received many honors recognizing his contributions to the nursery industry including the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association's Wholesale Nurseryman of the Year, the Farm-house Fraternity's Daryl Snyder Award for service in agriculture, Emeritus Trustee at the University of Tennessee; the McMinnville-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s Free Enterprise Award, The Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association’s Hall of Fame Award, and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture naming its diagnostics laboratory building after him, The Edward S. Porter Animal Indus-tries Building, the ANLA Hall of Fame Award (2002), and SNA’s Slater Wight Memorial Award (2003). Most recently, in 2015, he was honored by the Southern Nursery Association with an honorary membership award for his outstanding contributions to the nursery industry.
As for work within the local community outside the nursery industry, Porter was a member of the Rotary Club where he was a Paul Harris Fellow. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge No. 125, where he was a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner. He was also a deacon at First Baptist Church.