Joseph R. Ingersoll, 77, retired business executive and pioneer in local farming

Joseph Reed Ingersoll, 77, of Chestnut Hill, a retired business executive and pioneer in sustainable local farming, died Friday, June 22, of organ failure at Pennsylvania Hospital.

Mr. Ingersoll was a department-store manager with Federated Stores, the current owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's, and then a chain of duty-free shops. Although based in Philadelphia, he traveled to Dallas, San Francisco, Hawaii, and Japan on behalf of the duty-free shops.

Before retiring in 2003, he was a sales executive for Concept Systems, a national firm that specializes in automating businesses.

His passion, though, was sustainable farming. In 2005, Mr. Ingersoll joined the effort to launch the Pennypack Farm and Education Center in Horsham, bringing his expertise in gardening, carpentry, and fund-raising to the project.

He volunteered many hours transforming Pennypack from 27 acres of fallow land into a food source for local families and a model for local farming and general agriculture education.

"He was one of the very first to see the need for local farm produce," said his friend and neighbor Arthur Howe. "He was behind the success of Pennypack Farm."

The nonprofit gave away 8,000 pounds of food in 2017.  The education center offers apprenticeships, and has a collaborative summer camp program with College Settlement of Philadelphia for inner-city children.

Mr. Ingersoll almost single-handedly built the "harvest house," where members pick up produce. He also created a chicken coop that could be wheeled around the farm, a tool shed with work space, and a fence bordering the property, said farm executive director Julie McCabe.

"I can't really imagine what this place would be without his contribution," McCabe said. "The people who started this place had to have [tremendous] energy and effort."

"He was there every day," said Pat Druhan, a longtime board member of Pennypack Farm. Mr. Ingersoll would show up early and stay all day tending to farm chores.

Druhan said Mr. Ingersoll donated a large personal tool collection to the farm. "Then he turned into a master builder," Druhan said.

In 2014, when Mr. Ingersoll was honored for his contributions at the farm's annual "Localicious" fund-raiser, he turned the limelight on others, asking each volunteer to stand up and be recognized.

"It was quite something," said his wife, Gretchen. "I was stunned."

Mr. Ingersoll had another passion: pet therapy. Once a week, he and his wife took their English Labrador retrievers, Nicholas and Anastasia, to visit patients at Pennsylvania Hospital.

"We've been doing that for 12 years through two generations of dogs," his wife said. "Nobody knows our name – it's 'Where's Anastasia, where's Nicholas?' What a wonderful thing we both shared."

Mr. Ingersoll was a direct descendant of a prominent Philadelphia family. He was named for lawyer Joseph Reed Ingersoll, who served two terms as a congressman and as a foreign minister to Britain in the 1800s.

His grandfather R. Sturgis Ingersoll served as president of the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1948 to 1964 and contributed much of his personal art collection to the museum.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Ingersoll grew up in Penllyn, Montgomery County, and attended Chestnut Hill Academy before graduating from St. Paul's School, in Concord, N.H. While there, he was captain of the boxing team.

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He was president of the Zeta Psi Fraternity and enrolled in an officers' program for Marines. He served briefly before a motorcycle accident as a civilian ended his military service.

After serving, he earned a master of business administration degree from Penn's Wharton School.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Ingersoll is survived by two sons, Reed and Richard S.; and a brother, Bob. His first wife, Patricia Royce Ingersoll, died in 2010.

At his request, there will be no funeral. Memorial donations may be made to Pennypack Farm, c/o Joe Ingersoll Infrastructure Fund, 685 Mann Rd., Horsham, Pa. 19044, or to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, 909 N. Washington St., Suite 400, Alexandria, Va. 22314.