Citrus grower, business owner Sid Banack dies at 91

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY −An agriculture and business figure central to decades of the Indian River citrus industry died over the weekend at 91.

Sidney Banack Jr. began in farm insurance and later opened his own agency. He would come to own a packinghouse, citrus groves, a family farm with two produce stores, and a beachside restaurant.

He was said to be “a giant” and “a legend" in the county’s history of citrus and a “larger than life” character in his dealings with those in the citrus trade and in city and county governments.

Customers of the Ocean Drive taqueria that bears Banack’s lifelong nickname were greeted by “El Sid” who opened the restaurant next door to his ice cream and produce gift store in 2019 to feature cuisine made on the family’s farms and from his childhood in Central America, his daughter said.

“He wore his name badge, shook hands and talked to people until just a few months ago,” said Cheryl Banack Roseland. “He never met a stranger - big smile, blue eyes - he just loved interacting with customers.”

Since 2003, he operated Countryside Family Farms off 66 ^th Avenue and 81 ^st Street where a strawberry patch was open in the spring, a corn maze and sunflower field in the fall at its inland farmland alongside the beachside gift and ice cream shop.

“Agriculture was always his great love,” said Roseland. “His father and grandfather built railroads in Central America to move bananas around … he was the first American baby born in this little town in Panama.”

Banack obtained a degree in agriculture from the University of Florida with an aim to become a nurseryman.

In the late 1950s, he began work with the Florida Farm Bureau as a Vero Beach area insurance agent, where he worked until 1984. Then he opened his own Sid Banack Insurance, which he sold in 2004.

Roseland said her father entered citrus farming and purchased groves and a packinghouse which the family owns and operates along with Lane Southern Orchards roadside store and cafe featuring fresh peaches and pecans, in Georgia.

“We’re still planting citrus trees,” Roseland said. “We’re one of the few left still optimistic about the future of citrus in Florida.”

Indian River County Commission chairwoman Susan Adams said she and her mother Fran Adams, a former county commissioner, worked with Banack.

"He was just a larger-than-life character," Susan Adams said "He’s part and parcel of the history of citrus in Indian River County."

Susan Adams said when she was mayor of Fellsmere, she worked with Banack on the town’s visioning for its downtown and surrounding land use.

Doug Bournique, executive director of the Indian River Citrus League, said Banack’s mentoring was among the reasons he chose to join and stay with the organization in 1979. The league is an industry trade organization of growers and packers.

“I thought of all the reasons to leave and I thought of all the good reasons to stay and one of the biggest draws was working with men like Sid Banack,” said Bournique.

Over the years, he said Banack and his children served in numerous roles and committees within the organization and volunteered in efforts to maintain the industry after years of setbacks from diseases affecting citrus groves.

“There’s more diseases than you can  shake a stick at,” Bournique said. “The Banacks have always tried to find a solution to what’s affected our industry.”

Cheryl Roseland said the family would stay in the citrus industry.

“We’ll still be packing and shipping fruit for sure,” she said.

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Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers. Follow @coreyarwood on X, email corey.arwood@tcpalm.com or call 772-978-2246 .

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Citrus grower, business owner Sid Banack dies at 91