|
|
The Dohmen Family
A Wisconsin Family’s Legacy
With a love for nature and animals that began as a child in the Washington Park Zoo in Milwaukee, Frederick (Fred) Dohmen traveled the world with his family exploring wild things and unique places. It was on one of these adventures, recalls Mary Dohmen, Fred’s second wife, where “they became a family.” It was also during these travels where a shared passion for conservation grew among the Dohmens, Fred, Mary, and Fred’s sons William and Bob.
Inspired by early adventurers Martin and Osa Johnson, the Dohmen family visited Africa in the early 1970’s where they were forever changed by the continent’s diversity. To encourage Bob’s fascination with hippos, Fred brought his family to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to visit a place where hippos exist in their highest densities on the planet. Fred accompanied Bob as he ventured from their safari vehicle—against the better judgment of their guide—to within fifty feet of as many hippos wallowing in mud. Bob describes that unique experience as one of his most memorable moments in nature.
Having taught elementary school in Baraboo at the beginning of her career, Mary Dohmen had a special place in her heart for the hilly landscape surrounding the International Crane Foundation. Mary and Fred visited ICF in the 1990’s and after a tour with friend and co-founder George Archibald, began generously supporting ICF’s work to protect cranes and their habitats. Fred later shared his interest in crane conservation with his son Bob and he too became involved.
Africa has remained a special place for the Dohmen family and through ICF they were able to focus their desire to protect its cranes and wild places by creating the Dohmen Endowment for African Cranes and Wetlands. The fund generates income each year that directly supports ICF’s diverse conservation programs on this important continent for cranes. Today, thanks to the generosity and shared commitment of the Dohmen family, the fund has grown to nearly $250,000 and will continue to support our work in Africa into the future.
Bob Dohmen has also committed his time and talent to crane conservation by serving on ICF’s Board of Directors where he shares his passion and experience gained running his family’s fifth-generation pharmaceutical business, the F. Dohmen Company. Bob’s leadership and invaluable counsel now helps guide and expand ICF’s work throughout the world.
Sadly, ICF and cranes lost a good friend last spring when Fred Dohmen passed away at the age of 88. Adding to the legacy Fred leaves through his son’s leadership and his family’s continued impact on our Africa program, ICF recently learned that Fred also made a provision in his will to support crane conservation. Fred’s gift, as all planned gifts to ICF (unless otherwise directed), became part of our growing conservation program endowment which was established by donors to ensure that future funds would be available to protect cranes.
The world is fortunate to have the Dohmens as friends and champions of cranes and the special places where they are found. “The Dohmen family has made and continues to make tremendous impacts on our work” said George Archibald “we are honored to advance in Fred’s memory and through their continued friendship.”
Institute for Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an independent Federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. IMLS fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the nation’s 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries.
Thanks to a recent grant from IMLS, ICF will be able to purchase video equipment that will allow remote monitoring and improvement of the social and physical environment of our captive Whooping Cranes. The equipment will enable us to better manage our breeding Whooping Cranes in order to increase the number of chicks reintroduced to the wild. The equipment also will allow us to share the images captured with our visitors in a new educational display and on our website.
ICF was among 186 applicants for a 2004 Conservation Project Support (CPS) grant, of which only 66 received funding. CPS awards fund a wide range of projects to help museums safeguard their collections, including conservation training, surveys, and treatment. Museums of every type, from art to zoo, are eligible for funding. These grants, which are awarded by a competitive peer review process, help museums undertake their most critical conservation activities. In 2000, IMLS added an educational funding component to heighten public awareness of conservation issues.
For more information, please visit the IMLS website.
Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin
The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin (NRF) aims to promote the knowledge, protection and enjoyment of our natural resources, inspiring local citizens to take actions that ensure that Wisconsin’s natural heritage is protected for future generations. NRF funds numerous programs at the grassroots level, ranging from invasive plant removal to fish crib construction. NRF enjoys a unique relationship with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, as the Foundation generates and offers financial support to the agency for programs that benefit Wisconsin’s natural resources.
As colleagues in the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP), ICF and NRF are working closely together to establish a new migratory, breeding population of endangered Whooping Cranes in Wisconsin. NRF’s unique role in WCEP is to locate supplemental financial support to fuel this exciting and historic project.
In May 2004, NRF and ICF held a special crane event at ICF’s headquarters in Baraboo to celebrate WCEP and to recognize individual NRF Crane Club members who support the reintroduction project through their generous contributions. During the festivities, NRF Executive Director, Charlie Luthin (left) presented ICF President Jim Harris with a symbolic check for $33,805, representing the amount of support that NRF has provided to ICF this year. Mr. Luthin also handed over keys to a van dubbed the "Whoopermobile," purchased with NRF dollars. The vehicle will assist ICF staff with their Whooping Crane field efforts. NRF also supports ICF intern Lara Fondow, who tracks the migration of the young Whooping Cranes post-release.
ICF wishes to thank NRF for its past and continuing support of the cranes.
For more information, please visit NRF’s website.
Mead Witter Foundation
Mead Witter Foundation Establishes China Endowment Fund
At the end of 2006, Mead Witter Foundation of Wisconsin Rapids made a grant of $155,000 to establish the Mead Witter China Endowment Fund. The grant will support ICF’s work in China, which, as home to eight species of cranes, boasts more than any other country in the world.
ICF was one of the first conservation organizations to work in China, beginning in 1979. Our diverse activities have included using satellites to better understand bird migrations and working with local communities such as Cao Hai in Guizhou Province to address issues of poverty and wetland protection.
Current projects include restoring water flows to some of the vast wetlands of northeast China and coordinating parallel education programs in China and the United States to teach children about cranes, our respective cultures, and the importance of land and water conservation. The new endowment provides important support to sustain ICF’s commitment and effectiveness in a country that is vitally important for cranes.
The Mead Witter Foundation has also been a major supporter of the reintroduction of Whooping Cranes into central Wisconsin. We are very grateful for the Foundation’s continued generosity and concern for cranes and their habitats worldwide.
Fred Ott
Since our fledgling days some 35 years ago, the International Crane Foundation (ICF) has been blessed with the friendship and visionary leadership of Frederick “Fred” L. Ott.
Virtually every ICF first — breeding species of endangered cranes, discovering new crane populations, launching strategic programs worldwide to save cranes and their habitats - has taken place during Fred’s tenure as an ICF board member.
Fred turned 87 in February 2008 and still attends nearly every board meeting and offers his warm smile, wisdom and passion for cranes and conservation.
Fred was born in 1921 into a family well-known in Milwaukee for its interest in animals and conservation.
The Otts were strong supporters of the Milwaukee County Zoo and instrumental in its formation. Fred, consequently, learned to love animals and nature at a very early age.
He remembers saving “a whole quarter” at age 8 to become a member of Save-the-Redwoods League in 1929. That was a lot of money back then, he says. Fred credits “Opa” (his grandfather) with fostering his lifelong love of birds.
Fred also frequented the Milwaukee Public Museum in his youth where he became, in his own words, Owen Gromme’s biggest pest.
Gromme at that time was Curator of Birds and Mammals and busy painting the plates which eventually became Birds of Wisconsin. Gromme gradually learned to tolerate the young man and even allowed Fred to watch him painting. Fred reciprocated years later by starting Friends of the Museum, an organization that eventually raised over $200,000 to publish Gromme’s famous book.
Rivaling Fred’s love for animals and nature is his love for big adventure. While skiing in Switzerland during high school, Fred once took a “thrilling” 3,500 foot fall off a mountain and broke his back.
A few years later while attending Kenyon College in Ohio (from which he graduated in two years), Fred and a close friend spent a summer walking some 1,400 miles at times traversing virtually unexplored wilderness in what later became Grand Teton National Park. Fred recalls getting lost practically every other day and estimates they crossed the continental divide at least six times by mistake.
In 1942, Fred enlisted in the Army and became a drill instructor and truck driver before arriving at Normandy three days after D-day. With Fred on board, his trucking unit became famous for its fearlessness.
After the war, Fred began his business career in lumber, first working in logging camps in northern Wisconsin and later selling paper products.
It was on a business call where he met his late wife Elizabeth “Jolly” Needham. Fred remembers canoeing with friend Sigurd Olsen and seeking his advice before proposing to Jolly.
The couple had three children —Fredericka (Riki), who has a Ph.D in Marine Biology and is an author and expert on oil spill effects on people and the environment; Bradford, a literature major from Kenyon College, carpenter, and volunteer docent with the High Desert Museum in Bend, OR; and Lisi, who owns and manages Purple Crayon Ranch with its 16 llamas and alpacas.
Fred and Jolly raised their family rich with experiences in the outdoors —canoeing, hiking — surrounded by unusual animals—elephants, monkeys, penguins (Fred continues involvement with the Milwaukee Zoo today) and steeped in conservation and civic involvement.
Fred’s accomplishments over the years are quite impressive, he is: ICF’s most senior director; founder and first president of Friends of the Museum; past director of the Milwaukee County Zoo; a founder of Riveredge Nature Center; and, founder and past president of Citizens Natural Resources Association (CNRA).
Fred was a lead fundraiser for CNRA’s successful fight against the use of DDT in this country. Daughter Riki recalls racing home from middle school to observe famed Environmental Defense Fund attorney Victor Yvanacone and scientist Charlie Wurster scribbling feverishly on legal papers that covered the Ott’s dining room table. Their home served as a base camp during the DDT trials.
Riki considers her father her environmental hero although she never heard the word "environmentalist" in her family growing up. Instead, she claims, “Dad lived the word through his actions. We kids learned that when something is wrong — like the robins dying from DDT — you get together a bunch of friends and figure out how to fix the problem. You just do it. He lives his values daily.”
Longtime friend George Archibald agrees. Fred is a unique treasure. He is copiously generous to causes in which he believes, lives a simple lifestyle and proclaims with a flair, “I save pennies and give dollars!”
Fred has lived by this motto giving generously and helping to raise funds for so many important causes.
Last summer, Fred, along with the Reinhardt H. and Shirley R. Jahn Foundation Trust, made a generous gift to help ICF exceed a $100,000 challenge grant from the Felburn Foundation to advance major renovations at Crane City, ICF’s on-site captive breeding facility and home to over 80 cranes.
Fred is also a member of ICF’s Crane Heritage Society — he has included ICF in his estate plans so that his passion for cranes and conservation will continue long into the future.
Fred is a true champion and we are forever grateful for all he has done and continues to do for ICF, cranes and conservation of wild places. We salute Fred and his many accomplishments and thank him for helping to make our world a better place for all. Thank you, Fred!
|
|
|
 |
