Longtime orchardist Jim Koempel died July 26 at his home in Dryden, Washington, following a prolonged battle with Parkinson’s disease. Jim Koempel (Courtesy Koempel family) Koempel grew up on a family farm in Tieton, Washington, graduating from Highland High School in 1963. He graduated from Washington State University in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education. He and his wife, Sue, bought their first 10 acres of orchard in 1969. His first job was as a vocational agricultural and woodshop teacher at Cashmere High School, and he continued teaching until the mid-1980s in three districts. He later turned to […]