Davey Tree Flipbooks

26 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | September/October 2025 MEMORIALS Joseph E. "Jed" Day, executive vice president and general manager, U.S. Residential operations, passed away July 16 after a brief illness. Day retired in July following 43 years of service. Day started at Davey in 1982 as a supervisor trainee. He served in a variety of roles within Utility services before transferring to Residential/Commercial services in 1990 as a sales trainee. Day served as an assistant district manager, district manager, operations manager, and vice president before being promoted to vice president and general manager of Residential operations in 2014. In 2022, he was promoted to executive vice president and general manager. That same year, he was appointed by the Davey board of directors to serve as a corporate officer. Day was posthumously awarded the John Davey Award of Excellence. The John Davey Award is presented to Davey employees who exhibit the qualities most revered by our founder and who, through their performance and example, have earned the respect and admiration of their fellow employees. The award is granted to the uncommon few who consistently "Do It Right or Not at All." A 1983 graduate of the Davey Institute of Tree Sciences, Day was an ISA Certified Arborist. He served on the Davey President's Council, and twice received the Davey Outstanding Manager Award. He was a proud graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University. Day also served on Davey's shareholder relations committee and was an advocate for the company's employee-ownership model. "(Employee ownership) breeds a sense of responsibility, accountability to one another, regardless of (your) rank," Day said in a 2024 interview with corporate communications. "We expect one another to do the best that they can with the assets they've been entrusted, because we all own it. It's not any of our names on the truck. This is our company, so I think that general sense of accountability and sharing in the wealth is a nice feeling to have. It's as close as you can get to having your very own company without only your wallet on the table." Jed Day EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT ADVOCATED EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP For the first time this spring, two education grants that totaled $10,000 were awarded through the Davey Tree Expert Company Community Arboriculture Education Grant Program within the Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund). TREE Fund, a nonprofit organization with a mission to support scientific discovery and dissemination of new knowledge in the fields of arboriculture and urban forestry, gave a total of $6 million, awarding one research grant, three education grants and 10 student scholarships. Two of the three education grants awarded came from the new Davey Tree Expert Company Community Arboriculture Education Grant Program. One grant of $4,985 was given to the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County (NY) for its "Urban Tree Equity Education and Outreach" program, and a second grant of $5,000 was awarded to St. Olaf College (MN) for its "Educating St. Olaf and Carleton College Students on Disease/ Pest Identification, Safe Chainsaw Use, and Tree Care as a Profession" program. DAVEY PROGRAM AWARDS FIRST EDUCATION GRANTS John Dingus, retiree, passed away July 2, 2025. Dingus retired in 2008 as a district manager, North Virginia office, Residential/ Commercial services, after 44 years of service. He started at Davey in 1964 as a groundperson in Iowa on a Davey Tree Surgery Company crew and later moved to the D.C. area, where he held various roles at the Northern Virginia full-service office. Dingus was a charter member of the Davey President's Council and a recipient of the John Davey Award. Donna McMann, retiree, passed away April 14, 2025. McMann retired in 1992 as an accounting assistant after 31 years of service. Steven Smith, passed away July 15, 2025. Smith retired in 2017 as a foreman, Indianapolis office, Residential/Commercial services, after 17 years.

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