Lue Gim Gong the "Citrus Wizard"

Lue Gim Gong was born in 1860 in Canton, China.  In 1886, he moved to DeLand with his surrogate mother, Miss Fannie Burlingame.  Lue started to work with orange trees and other fruits as soon as he moved down here.  He spent all of his time experimenting and developing his groves.  In 1911, as one of his outstanding accomplishments he cross-pollinated a "Hart's Late" with a "Mediterranean Sweet" and produced a new orange, the "Lue Gim Gong" which ripened early in the fall and was more resistant to cold.  It was propagated by the Glen St. Mary's Nursery which in turn received the Silver Wilder Medal from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the first time the award was given for citrus.  Lue also developed a grapefruit that grew singly on the branch, rather than in a clump, and an aromatic grapefruit that had little juice but smelled wonderful.  He also propagated roses and other flowers and fruits.  He also claimed to have a cure for skin cancer.  Lue Gim Gong died in 1925 and was buried in Oakdale Cemetery.  The people of DeLand who knew of his work were so impressed by it they  planned to erect a bust in his memory but the Great Depression started and the project was forgotten.  In 1999, the West Volusia Historical Society took up the cause and erected a bust that is located in a gazebo on the property of the Henry A. DeLand House.  It has taken seventy-four years to fittingly honor Lue, "The Citrus Wizard."  To learn more about Lue, we invite you to come and visit the gazebo and Lue's gravesite in Oakdale Cemetery.

"No one should live in this world for himself alone, but to do good for those who come after him."