Foundation

Planned gift supports ornithological collection

Mary Lou Petersen of Bettendorf, IA, describes herself and her late husband, Peter, as “practical people who made practical choices.”Peter and Mary Lou Petersen photo

Peter, who died in 1997, was a nationally renowned scholar and bird watcher. Over the course of his life, Peter built up a collection of nearly 1,000 titles of rare and high quality ornithological books and periodicals. He was also a volunteer bander for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, amassing more than 25 years of bird banding data and 45 years of field observation data and equipment used by licensed banders.

Peter was in museum work, a naturalist, and owner of Pete Petersen’s Wild Bird Shop. Mary Lou taught junior high biology for 36 years in Pleasant Valley, IA. Their ornithology collection was the result of a shared interest, and in 1997 they began to search for a permanent home.

Peter’s alma mater could not accommodate all of the collection, nor could Mary Lou’s undergraduate institution provide an appropriate home. The Petersens were perplexed, as keeping the collection together was their priority. Then Peter approached Tom Dunstan, WIU professor emeritus of biology and longtime friend and colleague of the Petersens.

Although the Petersens had no scholarly or professional connection to Western, Mary Lou had met Dunstan while both were in graduate school in South Dakota, and they remained in contact over the years. Peter approached Dunstan about housing the collection at Western in early 1997, and he reported back that Western would be delighted to accept the Petersen collection in its entirety.

“This is an excellent collection accumulated by a man whose knowledge of birds was among the best in the country,” said Dunstan. “WIU was among several institutions interested in obtaining the collection, and we are fortunate to have been the recipient.”

The collection was accepted by Western’s library staff. In the wake of Peter’s passing, thoughts of the collection or how it was being used were not foremost in Mary Lou’s mind.

“It wasn’t until Tom called a few years ago to say that the cataloging of the collection was complete and the University planned to host an opening ceremony that I realized this donation had created a lot of work for the library staff,” said Mary Lou. “I began to think that I should also provide some resources for maintenance and support of the collection.”

Mary Lou has designated a planned gift of $50,000 to support the Petersen Ornithological Collection at Western Illinois University.

“I was very pleased that Western picked up the ornithological collection. I complement everyone involved from packing and moving it to inventorying it and putting in the public domain. I intend my estate gift to support the work involved in the upkeep of the collection,” Mary Lou said.

“This unique and outstanding collection from the Petersens will support research not only on the WIU campus, but for individuals and institutions in the region and beyond,” said Phyllis Self, dean of WIU’s Libraries. “We are honored and proud to house and present the comprehensive Petersen Ornithological Collection. We are so grateful for Mrs. Petersen’s planned gift to support it.”

 

 

 

 

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