Donald Winfred Youmans

http://altamontenterprise.com/Weekly%20Archives/2008/11-13-08/Obitu...

Donald W. Youmans

NEW SCOTLAND — Donald W. Youmans was an engineer who worked in large-scale agriculture in Iowa and California after a childhood spent on the family farm in New Scotland.

He died on Oct. 31, 2008 in Grass Valley, Calif. after a long illness. He was 84 years old.

Mr. Youmans was born on July 7, 1924 in New Scotland, and grew up on a dairy farm on Youmans Road. He graduated from high school in 1942. From high school, he immediately joined the Navy, and served as a pilot in the South Pacific during World War II.

Mr. Youmans studied agricultural engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and graduated from Cornell University.

After a stint with John Deere in Iowa, Mr. Youmans moved to California, where he became a chief engineer in large-scale production. He developed a tomato harvester that saved hours of hand labor, according to his brother-in-law, Robert King.

“I rode on it when I was out there. They plant the tomato on an absolutely flat piece of land…as flat as the floor, precisely,” Mr. King said. “The machine comes along, and trucks come behind and pick tomatoes. They can load truckloads of tomatoes per day. This clever brother-in-law created a sensor to tell the ripe tomatoes from the green. [The harvester] pulled tomato plants from the ground, and shook the ripe tomatoes into one chute and the green ones into another. It was a great monster, like a tank.”

Mr. Youmans had his own airplane and, said King, “He was big on fishing.”

Mr. Youmans married Harriet King in 1952. They were married for 56 years and raised two children.

“They were very happy,” Mr. King said. Mrs. Youmans cared for her husband for two years for 12 hours a day, Mr. King said.

“She was so dedicated,” he said.

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Donald W. Youmans is survived by his wife, Harriet Youmans; his son, Jeffrey Youmans, and his wife, Carol, of California; his daughter, Sallie LaPlaca Carmichael, and her husband, Mic, of California; his grandchildren Casey Howard, of Hawaii; Cody LaPlaca and his wife, Lisa, of California; and Jesse LaPlaca, of California; and his brother, Samuel, of Voorheesville. He is also survived by two great-grandchildren.

His brother, Lester, of Indiana, died before him.

— Jo E. Prout

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Donald W Youmans United States Census, 1940

Household Role Gender Age Birthplace Lester Youmans Head M 42 New York Margaret Youmans Wife F 42 New York Lester H Youmans Son M 20 New York Samuel A Youmans Son M 18 New York Donald W Youmans Son M 15 New York Adelbert C Youmans Father M 72 New York Della E Youmans Mother F 70 New York Willis Smith Hired hand M 28 New York

• Residence: New Scotland Town, Albany, New York, United States - 1940
  • Reference: FamilySearch Record - SmartCopy: Nov 3 2018, 14:18:36 UTC