Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum announces death of chief horticulturist Stan Kozak
“Thank you, Stan, for the magic you created here."
The man who, for the last 50 years, supervised the magnificent displays of flora at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum has died. The museum announced the death the chief horticulturist Stan Kozak on Monday, sharing a photo of the passionate gardener tending to the museum’s iconic, courtyard nasturtiums. “Thank you, Stan, for the magic you created here and the gift you have given the city of Boston, which will live on in the hearts and minds of all who have experienced the unforgettable Gardner Courtyard,” museum staff wrote.
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According to his obituary, Kozak died Sunday “after a courageous battle against cancer.”
Kozak joined the Gardner’s staff at the age of 17. He told the Improper Bostonian in 2018 he started his career at the museum as an intern while a student at Jamaica Plain High School. The head gardener at the time, John Sullivan, convinced Kozak to stay on after graduation, rather than attend UMass Boston.
“I knew I could learn a lot from those guys who had been doing this for as long as I’ve been doing it now,” Kozak told the magazine.
Kozak recently celebrated 50 years with the museum, his loved ones wrote in his obituary.
“Until the end of his life Stan remained passionate and dedicated to his work as the Chief Horticulturist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,” they wrote.
His family asked that donations in his memory be made to St. Jude Hospital. Visiting hours will be held Thursday in West Roxbury at P. E. Murray – F.J. Higgins – George F. Doherty Funeral Home from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. A funeral mass will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Anthony’s Church in Allston.
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