Sent to Chile on a California Avocado Commission fact-finding mission, De Leon also visited Paraguay as a Farmer to Farmer program leader to oversee agricultural education for natives to enable them to grow and harvest citrus.De Leon also helped and organized 65 farm worker families with home ownership in Santa Paula.He and his wife, Sarah, have a blended family of eight children.
De Leon appointed to UC President’s Ag & Natural Resources commission
May 20, 2000
Santa Paula News
Santa Clara River Valley businessman and activist Ralph De Leon, owner of Santa Paula-based SAMCO, has been appointed to the University of California President’s Advisory Commission on Agriculture & Natural Resources.
De Leon was appointed to the commission by University of California President Richard C. Atkinson earlier this month. The University of California system includes nine universities: Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz.De Leon, a resident of Fillmore, is President of Santa Paula-based SAMCO, a farm labor and trucking contracting firm currently operating in California and Florida. Also under the SAMCO banner is farming operations with 77 acres in Santa Paula devoted to citrus and avocado production.Born in Mexico, De Leon moved to California in 1957 and became a naturalized citizen; he is also an Army veteran. He has an Associate Arts degree in Business/Computer Science from Ventura College and received certificates in advanced business studies from the University of California Los Angeles and the University of California Santa Barbara.Prior to founding SAMCO in 1977, De Leon had an extensive career in agricultural operations serving as manager of Santa Paula Growers Association and Inland Growers Association; manager of Western Harvesting Company of El Centro; and assistant manager of Coastal Growers Association of Oxnard.A Kellogg Fellow of the Agricultural Leadership Program, De Leon serves as a Board Director for Fruit Growers Laboratory and Agricultural Producers. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Santa Clara Valley Bank. He is a California Avocado Commission alternate and an appointed member of the California Agricultural Employment Forum; the latter appointment of De Leon was made by the Director of California Food & Agriculture and the Director of the state Employment Development Department. De Leon also has served as an American Farm Bureau Federation directorA Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce Director 1984-86, De Leon was a Private Industry Council member 1983-90, and is a past director of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Paula-Fillmore-Piru as well as the Ventura County Chapter of the American Cancer Society. In 1998 he was honored by the Santa Paula Women in History Committee for his civic and community activities.
