Burpee’s Big Boy Gets the Boot

The last member of the Burpee seed company’s founding family has been bounced by the firm’s owner, George J. Ball Inc.

Jonathan Burpee, the 51-year-old namesake of the “Big Boy” tomato variety, said he was fired from his position as assistant to President George Ball on April 15 as part of a company cost-cutting move.

“It was a complete surprise to me,” he said. “It was very shocking, very traumatic. You think they would have appreciated the value and contribution of the family connection.”

Neither Ball nor Burpee officials returned calls seeking comment.

Burpee is the grandson of W. Atlee Burpee, who founded W. Atlee Burpee & Co. in 1876 with $1,000. The company now mails more than 5 million catalogues annually.

According to company lore, a plant breeder named the Big Boy tomato for Jonathan Burpee after meeting him as a strapping youth. Burpee began working full time for the firm in 1964, and the company has been his only employer for the last 29 years.

“I grew into this job. I learned the business from the ground up,” Burpee said.

Burpee said that since his firing he has tended a back-yard garden, cut his lawn and cared for basement seedlings--tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, which were wildflowers until the Burpees entered the gardening business.

Burpee said he would consider an offer to work for the company as a consultant, adding that he wants to remain in the field.