Georgeann Cowles Eiskamp, a Watsonville native known for her volunteerism and steadfast dedication to her community, who successfully ran Cowles Berry Farm, and who helped shape the Down To Earth Women Luncheon as co-founder and the first board co-chair, died Sept. 22 of natural causes. She was 85.
Her son John E. Eiskamp said she will be remembered for her willingness to volunteer and devote a huge part of her life to public service.
“She loved to volunteer, and she loved organizations that helped other people, and she loved agriculture too,” he said. “She had a really giving spirit. I don’t know what motivated her to be so involved, but when she did, she went full blast, she didn’t hold back.”
Born and raised on her family’s Watsonville farm, Eiskamp graduated from Watsonville High School in 1957, and received a bachelor’s degree at Purdue University in 1971.
After working for an insurance company in Seattle, Wash. for 15 years, she returned to Watsonville in 1999 to be closer to her grandchildren, John Eiskamp said.
She also helped her father, George Cowles—who received the Farmer of the Year award in 1990—on his ranch.
After Cowles died in 2006, Eiskamp took over farming operations of Cowles Berry Farm.
“She was very proud of that,” John Eiskamp said.
Eiskamp comes from a family strongly steeped in local agriculture.
Her father and son both earned Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau’s Farmer of the Year award, a distinction she won in 2017.
She served on the board of directors for the Agricultural History Project, as well as president of Watsonville Rotary Club from 2009-2010.
She has also led fundraising efforts to help support the victims of Haiti’s earthquake, buy vans for Renaissance High School and to provide medical care and clean water to a village in Peru.
She also held leadership roles in the Watsonville Rotary Club, the Ag History Project and Agri-Culture.
She was honored as the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year in 2012 and the Ag Against Hunger Woman of the Year in 2013.
Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau Executive Director Jess Brown said he admired Eiskamp’s dedication to the Pajaro Valley.
“She was always giving her time and money to doing good things in the valley,” he said.
As a founder of the annual Down To Earth Women Luncheon—which has raised more than $850,000 for agriculture education since its inception 18 years ago—Eiskamp helped shape it into the frequently sold-out event it is, Brown said.
“It was her leadership that created a structure that made it so popular,” he said. “People learned about agriculture and had a good time and raised money.”
All this was a testament to her strong natural leadership, Brown said.
“People looked up to her,” he said. “They liked her leading these efforts, and that makes a very special person, and she did it in a professional, calm manner. It was just amazing to watch her. She was a classy person who was bright and hardworking. Definitely someone who made an impact.”
