Tom Soulen died in hospice on July 28 at age 80. Tom was a long-time
member of MOU. He taught Plant Biology at the U of Minnesota for 38
years and received many teaching awards. He was also involved in the
music community and was choir director for 35 years at North Como
Presbyterian Church in Roseville. I not only birded with Tom in
Minnesota, Wisconsin and New Mexico but also talked birding with him
almost every Sunday after church. The only person I ever birded with
who matched his ability to hear and identify birds by calls and notes
was Sam Robbins.
Tom grew up in Wisconsin, earned his PhD at the U of Wisconsin in
Madison, and the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology continued to be a
vital part of his life even while living in Minnesota. For many years
he edited the Summer Seasonal Reports in the Passenger Pigeon and was
honored by the WSO with a silver Pigeon Award.
Tom was also an active Minnesota lister in Ramsey and Hennepin
Counties. On September 27, 1982, he recorded one of the first sightings
of a Wheatear in Minnesota. He saw it in Roseville, just a few blocks
from where I lived but a family death kept me from searching for the
bird. One of his greatest biding disappointments was a trip to
Attu that never left mainland Alaska due to bad weather.
Services will be September 12 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in
Minneapolis. The family prefers memorials to the Wisconsin Society for
Ornithology.
Manley Olson
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