Newbury greenhouse to close in wake of family member’s death

A family-owned and run Newbury greenhouse is closing in the wake of the unexpected death of one of the family’s members in May.

Susan Sforza Nico, 47, of Seabrook, New Hampshire, was killed in a car crash on May 21 while working at the Byfield Greenhouse and Garden Center, which is owned by the Sforza family.

Marblehead resident Janet Bach, 70, allegedly reversed “very very rapidly” near the checkout center, hitting and killing Sforza Nico and injuring two other customers.

Bach has been charged with vehicular homicide in connection with the incident but has pled not guilty, to the Sforza family’s dismay.

The Sforza family posted on Facebook Monday that they have decided to close the greenhouse.

“Closing our family business is like a death on top of our already tragic death of Susan. She would not believe the chain of horrible events that have transpired since the Dark Day. Her heart would be absolutely broken to know my father’s dream is done… it’s all over,” the family wrote.

“We know this touches your lives, too. We know you stand beside us and support our difficult decision. Thank you to all of our family, friends and loyal customers. You mean everything to us and we will truly miss interacting with you at the greenhouses.”

The Daily News of Newburyport reported Monday that the family business started with the Sforza Farm in West Newbury in the 1960s.

Charlie Sforza, Nico’s father, eventually started his own business by building the Byfield Greenhouse and Garden Center in the family’s backyard on Chute Road in 1978, the newspaper reported.

All seven Sforza children have worked at the greenhouse over the years, the Daily News reported. Sforza Nico was the manager of the greenhouse for 15 years.

“The life we know and lived revolved around the greenhouses. We worked there. We played there as children. Our kids learned how to count money and give back change there. We met friends there. We formed an unbreakable community bond there. That property is special,” the Sforza family wrote on Facebook.

The family reopened the greenhouse after Sforza Nico’s death for a week in late May, but then closed it again.

The community has rallied around the Sforza family with financial and other types of support, the Daily News reported.

“We’re a very large family and this is a deep, deep wound. There has been a lot to process,” Laura Sforza, who worked with Sforza Nico at the greenhouse for 10 years, told the Daily News.

She told the Daily News she thinks the family will discuss taking down the greenhouses and selling the equipment, but that they are not ready to do so yet.

“The thought of keeping the business open is really too much to handle and this is a decision that we fully support,” Sforza told the newspaper. “It’s just too much to put on anyone going forward.”

Sforza Nico leaves behind her husband Diego, who she married last September, her stepchildren Juliana and Vincent, and her two dogs, the Daily News reported.

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