By Chris Mayhew
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CAMP SPRINGS - Clarence Neltner, 63, died Monday of cardiac arrest while working in the family farm's orchard.

Six generations of Neltners have worked the farm in Camp Springs since 1892. It is known for its fresh produce, sold at area markets.

Mr. Neltner set high standards for anything he grew or sold, said his son Keith of Camp Springs.

During the growing season, Mr. Neltner joined the rest of the family selling produce at "tailgate" farmers markets and at Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine. The work was seven days a week.

The wide variety of fresh crops kept customers returning, resulting in friendships that go back 20 years, Keith Neltner said.

"When customers came to the stand, if he didn't know them, he would make them feel at home."

Too many to list, the Neltner produce includes beets, collard greens, turnips, summer apples, tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash.

In an Enquirer story from May 2000, Clarence Neltner said, "If it's homegrown, we've got it."

Mr. Neltner built a reputation on quality, said Wanda Painter, a family friend and owner of Campbell Vineyard and Orchard, which is near the Neltner family farm.

"Whatever they sold was top quality," she said. "They didn't sell anything that didn't meet their own standards. That's why people like to buy from them."

School children were often invited on field trips to see life on a farm.

A longtime member of the Campbell County Farm Bureau, Mr. Neltner was elected president in September. He was also president of the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana Tailgate Market Association.

"He was a leader of the community," Painter said.

Born in the family farmhouse, Mr. Neltner didn't start farming until the late 1970s. Before that he had worked at Kentucky Motors and then for Boat and Builders. He was an accomplished carpenter who made his own furniture, and built and remodeled houses in the off-season.

"He knew from the ground up how to build stuff, it was just all in his head," his son said.

His father was a quiet mannered man with a dry sense of humor.

"He was a person who would do anything for anybody whether it put him out or he got paid," his son said. "He was one of the purest souls that I know."

Other survivors include his wife, Claire; a daughter, Lisa G. Feltner of Falmouth; two other sons, Rick of Camp Springs and Kevin of Falmouth; two sisters, JoAnn Gibson of Alexandria and Eileen Rust of Cold Spring, and five grandsons. A son, Larry, died in 2002.

Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Friday at Alexandria Funeral Home. Mass of Christian burial will be 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph Church on Four Mile Pike in Camp Springs. Burial will be in St. Joseph Church Cemetery in Camp Springs.

Memorials can be made in the form of Masses.

E-mail cmayhew@enquirer.com