Wednesday, January 1, 2014 - 1:33pm
John Varkonda, who stewarded the Island’s 5,343-acre State Forest for more than a quarter-century, died unexpectedly Tuesday at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Mr. Varkonda was only the second person to oversee the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest since the state acquired the swath of land in the heart of the Island, once considered a wasteland. He assumed the job of superintendent from Manny Correllus, for whom the forest was named, in 1987.
The forest’s only full-time employee, Mr. Varkonda managed all aspects of it, tending to the network of trails and bike paths and protecting it against the dangers of fire.
“I know people who don’t like going to work in the morning. I don’t have that issue,” Mr. Varkonda told Martha’s Vineyard Magazine in 2010.
Mr. Varkonda was married to Jane Varkonda, conservation agent for the town of Edgartown.
Funeral arrangements were pending Tuesday. A full obituary will appear in a future edition of the Gazette.