The Friends of the Wildflower Garden was founded on June 18, 1952. There were six founding directors - Clinton Odell, Russell H. Bennett, Mrs. Carroll Binder, Martha Crone, Donald C. Dayton, and Leonard F. Ramberg. Their bios are at this link.

There are directors that served for a short while during this time frame for which we have no background information. Their names and dates of service are on the full director name list at this link.

The board expanded at the first annual meeting held January 1953 with the addition of Earle Brown and Mrs. Clarence (Ebba) Tolg.

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Earle Brown
1953 to 1963

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Mrs. Clarence (Ebba) Tolg
1953 to 1969

For Mrs. Clarence Tolg the connection was wildflowers. She was known to Martha Crone for many years prior to this as she appears in Martha's records twice in 1942, stopping in the Garden for a visit on May 23 with Martha noting she had not been in since 1940. Mrs. Tolg brought alone Marion Cross who was also interested in plants and birds. Miss Cross would join the board in 1961. Mrs. Tolg returned On August 7 and the pair drove to Lulu May Aler's for lunch, Martha walking back via Fruen's Mill and Babcock's glen. Miss Aler lived in Bryn Mawr and maintained the bird feeding station at the Garden.

While here first name was "Ebba" she was also known as "Betty." In 1939 she had helped form the Golden Valley Garden Club, gave gardening talks and maintained a good sized wild flower garden at her home on 206 Meadow Lane North in Golden Valley, just a short distance from the Wildflower Garden and just behind (west) of the Loring Cascade. Her large yard was a haven for birds and young members of the Minneapolis Bird Club would go there for birding. [Thanks to Friends member J. S. Futcher for that note.] She was on the Minneapolis Campfire Girls Council in 1940s. Her other memberships included the Zontians, Golden Valley League of Women Voters and the Bernard College Alumni Group. Her husband, Clarence, became well known in the 1960s as "Uncle Fogey" on WCCO radio. She was Vice-President of the Friends from 1962 through 1965. Ebba passed away on 2 June 1982 at age 94. Memorials were directed to the Friends.

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Elizabeth Carpenter
1954 to 1969

Information lacking.

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Carl W. Rawson
1954 to 1969

Carl Wendell Rawson was an artist, one of the Minnesota Impressionists, and also a golfer and sportsman. A more extensive history is at this link.

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Walter E. Lehnert
1960 to 1969 and 1975 to 1981

Walter Lehnert was President of the Friends 1961-1964, chairman of the Minnesota Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, grower of wild flowers and business man. A more extensive history is at this link.

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Russell Nye
1960 to 1961

Information lacking.

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Leonard Odell
1960 to 1974

A son of Clinton Odell. He left the board in 1974 to allow his sister Moana to join. He was master of ceremonies for the dedication of the Martha Crone Shelter in 1970.

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Mrs. Bernard Bowron
1961 to 1962

Information lacking.

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Marion Cross
1961 to 1969

Marion Eleanor Cross is first mentioned in the Friends records on May 23 1942 when she accompanies Ebba Tolg to the Garden to visit with Martha Crone. She was acquainted with fellow board member Russell Bennett as she is known to have stayed with the Bennetts at their Alberta ranch in the 1950s.

Birding and gardening were of great interest to her. She grew flowers vegetables and fruits which were used in sales to benefit Smith College. She liked to write about history, especially about parts of Minneapolis, the houses and who lived in them. Her writing career became noticed with her translation of Father Louis Hennepin's travels in the midwest in the 1600's, the first 20th century translation. She gave tours at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and she traveled. She was on one of her travels in Mexico with her father Norton Cross, a Minneapolis Attorney, when he died.

She lived at 806 Mount Curve Avenue in Minneapolis and died in Edina on November 29, 1997 at age 94.

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Whitney Eastman
1961 to 1969

Whitney H. Eastman was a member of the Friends Board of Directors from January 1961 through May 1969, after which he was an honorary director until May 1975. He joined the board when Dorothy Binder was President and was active through the fund raising and construction of the Martha Crone Shelter. His appearance in the Friends records goes back to the 1930's. An extensive bio is at this link.

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Lloyd Hale
1961 to 1962

Information lacking.

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Alice Martin
1961 to 1968

Information lacking.

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Mrs. Robert Strange
1961 to 1965

Information lacking.

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Alvin Witt
1963 to 1973

Alvin Witt was first elected to the Friends Board of Directors in 1963. He was elected Vice-president in 1966 and held that position until May of 1970. He retired from the board in May of 1973 at which point he was appointed an honorary director in recognition of his services when he was treasurer of the Building Committee that was formed by the Friends of the Wildflower Garden for the construction of the Martha Crone Shelter in 1968-1970.

His family was well-known in the grocery trade. We have a more extensive bio at this link.

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Mrs. George (Jessie) Ludcke Sr.
1964 to 1969

Jessie Ludcke joined the Friends board on March 2, 1964 joining other birding enthusiasts on the board with whom she was acquainted through Audubon and the Minnesota Orinthologist Union, particularly Whitney and Karen Eastman. Her husband George, who died in 1961, and she had been camp co-ordinators for Minnesota for National Audubon societies nature study camp at Hunt Hill near Sarona WI. They had been among the founders of the camp.

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Elizabeth Reed
1964 to 1969

Information lacking.

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Mary Simmons
1966 to 1969

Information lacking.

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Hazel Solhaug
1966 to 1968

Information lacking other than her name is mentioned for donating native plants in the Curator's log of 1950 and in The Fringed Gentian™ in 1965.

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Cathrine Faragher
1968 to 1971 and 1974 to 1976 and 1979

Cay Faragher became a director in May 1968 and was elected President at the following board meeting, replacing Ken Avery as President. She was the one to shepherd the Friends through the process of building the Martha Crone Shelter. Catherine served as president until May 1971 at which time she became an honorary and ex-officio director until 1975 at when she rejoined the Board.

A more extensive bio is at this link and more details of what she accomplished is in the histories for 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971.

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Robert Dassett Jr.
1969 to 1983

Robert Dassett Jr. joined the Friends Board of Directors in 1970 and remained on the board until 1982. He was Vice President in 1970 and Friends President 1971 through 1974.

He is in the Friends records back into the 1930's. A more extensive bio is at this link.

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Harry Thorn
1969 to 1974

Harry Thorn joined the Friends in 1968 and in that same year he became a member of the Building Committee that was formed by the Friends of the Wildflower Garden for the construction of the Martha Crone Shelter.

A more detailed bio of him is at this link.

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Wilber Tusler
1969 to 1975

Mr. Tusler joined the Friends Board of Directors in 1969 at the request of Friends President Catherine Faragher, Tusler having already been active with the Friends in the building plan. He was on the board through 1974.

He was a retired principal of the prominent Minneapolis Architectural firm of Magney, Tusler & Setters. A more extensive bio is at this link.

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