Marc van Iersel

Marcus Wilhelmus van Iersel, 57, of Athens (Hull), GA, died on 20 April 2023. The son of the late Leo and Riet van Iersel, Marc was born and raised in Roermond, the Netherlands. He came to the United States in 1990 for graduate school and remained for the rest of his life.

Marc is survived by his wife, Lynne Seymour; his siblings, Ruud (Yvonne) van Iersel and Yvonne (Rob) Deussen, all of Roermond, and Frank van Iersel of Vipiteno, Italy; his nieces and nephews, Floor and Sjors Deussen of Roermond, and Sara and Yuri van Iersel of Vipiteno; his parents-in-law, Eddie and Peggy Seymour of Phenix City, AL; sister-in-law Sandi (Pawel) Antoniak of Ozark, AL; and nieces and nephew Erik (Kelly) Hussey of Dothan, AL, and Annabel Antoniak of Auburn, AL.

Marc led an amazing life filled with science and travel, gardening and music, and kindness and generosity. He leaves a rich legacy of award-winning research in controlled environment agriculture that will be carried on by the many students and colleagues he has advised and mentored over the years. Other write-ups about him and his contributions to science will be linked here as available.

A celebration of Marc’s life was held on Tuesday, 2 May 2023, at the Day Chapel at the State Botanical Gardens.

Memorial donations may be made to the Marc van Iersel Student Travel Fund for Controlled Environment Agriculture at marcvanierselfund.org ; to the Marc van Iersel Exploratory Travel Award, https://hort.caes.uga.edu/about/the-leaflet-newsletter/fall-2023/marc-van-iersel-travel-grant.html ; or to your local animal shelter.

Lord and Stephens Funeral Home, EAST, Athens, GA, is in charge of arrangements. www.lordandstephens.com