Dr. Leonard R. Joppa

Leonard’s service will be livestreamed on this page starting at 2:00 PM on Saturday, December 17

Leonard Robert Joppa, 92, formerly of Fargo, North Dakota, peacefully passed away on November 16, 2022, at Eventide’s Linden apartments in Moorhead, Minnesota.

Leonard, known as Bob or Robert to his family, was born in Billings, Montana, in September 1930 to Carl and Grace (Shoop) Joppa. He was the eldest of four children, raised on a cattle and feed grain farm near Fromberg, Montana. To earn spending money, Bob would buy horses in Billings and bring them back to the farm to break them and then re-sell them. After graduating from Fromberg High School, he left for Montana State College in Bozeman. A college education was his goal; he said he “didn’t want to milk cows for a living”.

The Korean Conflict interrupted his college studies and he enlisted in the US Air Force, trained in Oklahoma, and was sent to Japan. He served from 1951 to 1954.

Leonard returned to college and completed his degree in Agronomy in 1957. His college days included competing in rodeo competitions and playing football on the Bobcats football team for a year. Following graduation, he began his career as an assistant agronomist at the Eastern Montana Experiment Station in Sidney, Montana. While in Sidney, he met and married his wife, Catherine (Osborn) Joppa. Their daughter Teresa and son William (Bill) were born in Sidney.

In 1962, Leonard earned his Masters Degree in Genetics from Oregon State University. His thesis was titled: “Chromosome Segregation in a Triticum Aestivum L. Em. Thell, by T. durum De sf. Cross and the Production of D Genome Addition Lines”.

Leonard and the family returned to Bozeman, in 1964, so he could work as a Research Fellow conducting research on wheat hybrids. Daughter Barbara was born while the family lived in married student housing in Bozeman.
After earning his PhD in Genetics at Montana State University in 1967, Leonard was named a research geneticist with the USDA-ARS and adjunct professor of crop science at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. The family moved to West Fargo, and then north Fargo. Daughter Margaret was born in Fargo. Leonard and Cathy lived in the same house for the next 54 years.

During his working years, Leonard continued to advance the science of durum wheat genetics. His research resulted in the production of several sets of aneuploids in durum wheat that have been distributed to more than 60 scientists in more than 20 countries. Dr. Joppa and his colleagues have used these stocks to study wheat genetics, determine the location of chromosomes and to transfer favorable characteristics from one line of wheat to another. These stocks were also widely used in genome mapping of wheat. Leonard was a major advisor to many PhD and Masters degree students; many from other countries. He was lucky to travel to India, Egypt, Tunisia, Japan and other countries to assist in research or attend conferences related to crop science. Leonard has published more than 60 technical papers about his research and contributed to the research and publication of scientific papers by many other colleagues.

Leonard received the Sigma Xi Outstanding Research award in 1985, USDA Certificate of Merit in 1992, and Outstanding Scientist Award from the Fargo-Moorhead Federal Executive Association in 1992. Leonard (finally) retired in 1996 at age 69; he then enjoyed gardening, travel, scuba diving, golf and his grandchildren, and not in that order.

In 2013, the NDSU Research Foundation named their new durum wheat variety “Joppa” in honor of Leonard’s many contributions to the field of durum wheat genetics. He was proud of this honor and loved knowing that “Joppa” wheat is now grown by many farmers in the upper Midwest.

Leonard is survived by his wife of 63 years, Catherine (now residing at Eventide’s Linden apartments in Moorhead MN), and by his children, Teresa (Richard) Norwig of Moorhead MN, Bill (Lori) of Rochester MN, Barbara Joppa (Eric Rowe) of Motueka, New Zealand, Margaret Joppa (Darin Grenz) of Swanson, New Zealand, and his grandchildren, Michael (Erin) Joppa of Rochester MN, Stephanie Joppa of Milwaukee WI, Lydia Norwig of Boise ID, Melissa Norwig of River Falls WI, and his great grandchildren, Theodore and Samuel Joppa. His sister, Jean Armstrong, and brother Stephen Joppa, and many nieces and nephews, also survive him. Leonard’s parents, Grace and Carl Joppa preceded him, as did his sister, Linda Armstrong.

As a memorial, please donate to the charity of your choice.