Former Fresno County Supervisor Phil Larson died on Thursday. He is remembered as a champion of agriculture. Photo via FCFB

The Fresno County ag community is mourning the death Thursday of Phil Larson, 92, who served three terms as District 1 supervisor.

Larson was remembered as a fierce advocate of the agricultural industry.

From 1962 to 2000, Larson worked for Wilbur-Ellis Co., an international marketer and distributor of agricultural products. A Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War, Larson was first elected to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors in 2002, and was reelected in 2006 and 2010.

He was a past president of the Fresno County Farm Bureau and served as the state director for California Farm Bureau District 7.

Ryan Jacobsen, president and CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, said it was his grandfather Don Laub who introduced farm bureau membership to Larson. Larson would go on to encourage Jacobsen’s mother, Debbie Jacobsen, to serve as an officer with the farm bureau. In doing so, he touched three generations of the family.

Larson was also a grower himself, farming raisins, grapes, cotton and hay over the years at his ranch in Kerman, which had been in his family since 1942, Jacobsen said.

“He was a phenomenal advocate for California agriculture,” Jacobsen said, adding that his impact will be felt for generations through the farmers, families, and communities he championed.

Brian Pacheco, Larson’s chosen successor, was elected to the District 1 seat in 2014. Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi is running for the seat in the June primary.

“His service to District 1—stretching from West Fresno to communities like Kerman, Mendota, and Firebaugh — left a lasting impact on the people he served,” Karbassi said on Facebook.

Fresno County farmer Mark Borba commented that Larson “was a great spokesperson for agriculture, but more importantly an amazing gentleman. He set the bar high.”

Ian LeMay, president and CEO of the California Table Grape Commission, said Larson was “passionate, fair, and a true public servant.”

Larson is survived by his wife Joyce, son Tim, daughter Lisa and three grandchildren.

Fresno County Supervisors Pacheco and Buddy Mendes issued statements about Larson’s passing Thursday, saying he championed the needs of those in his district.

“I was honored to know John ‘Phil’ Larson,” Pacheco said. “He was both a mentor and a friend. For the people who didn’t know Phil, he was a kind and gentle family man and he was a man of faith. I want to express my sympathies to Joyce, his wife of 68 years and their children, and extended family.”

Jacobsen said Thursday that memorial arrangements are to be determined.