Chapel Valley founder passes away

According to Chapel Valley’s Facebook page, company founder J. Landon Reeve IV died Monday, May 25. Reeve was a Lawn & Landscape Leadership Award recipient in 2000. He retired from Chapel Valley, which ranked 50 on this year's Lawn & Landscape’s Top 100 list, in 2015.

Below is the post from the Facebook page:

“It is with great sadness that we share that our founder, J. Landon Reeve IV, passed away this past Monday, May 25th. After extensive studies in ornamental horticulture, Landon graduated from the University of Maryland in 1963. Alongside his wife, Janet Wheeler Reeve, Landon founded Chapel Valley Landscape Company in 1968. At its start, Landon and Janet were the only two employees and built a company that now employs over 450 team members and operates out of 7 locations in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. During an interview in 2002, about his early goals for the company, Landon stated, “One of my primary goals in life is to develop a company with a good reputation that could continue beyond myself.”

“Landon’s passion around the landscape industry never waned as his desire was to not only to build Chapel Valley but also to help and inspire others who were starting careers. He served as president for the LCA, ALCA (now NALP), and the Maryland Nurseryman’s Association during his career and helped all 3 organizations with outreach, training, and legislative affairs. Even in retirement, Landon stayed active with the American Horticultural Society and Friends of the National Arboretum

“Landon was a pioneer in the landscape industry will be sorely missed by his family, his Chapel Valley family, and all of those who he interacted throughout his life. Due to current events, a memorial will be scheduled for the spring of 2021. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the American Horticulture Society or the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation in Landon’s name.”