Potato industry icon Frank Tiegs memorial planned for Tri-Cities convention center
A public memorial service honoring the life of Frank S. Tiegs will be held at 3 p.m. March 29 at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick.
Tiegs, 66, of Pasco, died Feb. 8. at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
He was one of the largest land owners in the region, an icon of the potato industry and an enthusiastic car collector who built an empire in the Mid-Columbia after growing up in Melba, Idaho.
He moved to Pasco in 1979 to study welding at Columbia Basin College while building his own farm.
He built and owned Oregon Potato, Washington Potato, the Lewis and Clark Ranch, Flav-R-Pac and at least a dozen related businesses that spanned farming, processing, marketing, finance and development.
Tiegs died of natural causes, but had been paralyzed by injuries suffered in a 2014 car accident, according to his obituary.
“Many people thought Frank would slow down after this accident, but he was never one to be told he couldn’t do something,” his obituary said.
Tiegs is survived by his wife, Janet Tiegs, his children, Keith Tiegs, Melissa Anderson, Douglas Tiegs and Jordan Tiegs, as well as several grandchildren, siblings and other relatives.
Life Tributes Cremation Center of Kennewick is handling his arrangements.
