Honoring Lifetimes of Good Work

Helen Engle and Thelma Gilmur, co-founders of the Tahoma Audubon Society, are two of the leading environmental advocates in the Pacific Northwest. Their lifetime of work was honored last month by the University of Puget Sound, where each received an honorary Doctor of Science degree for their work devoted to the protection and enjoyment of wilderness areas and urban green spaces. The Tahoma Audubon Society, launched in 1969, has become one of the most influential and effective environmental groups in the South Sound over the past 40 years.

Helen Engle, raised in Oakville, Wash., graduated from Tacoma General Hospital School of Nursing. While raising a large family, she became founding president of Tahoma Audubon Society, and later served as president of the Washington Environment Council. Engle helped found Citizens for a Healthy Bay in Tacoma, and People for Puget Sound, which addresses issues of the Salish Sea. She has served for 30 years on the Wildlife Diversity Advisory Council with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Her experiences involved working with native tribes, farmers, business leaders, and legislators. Locally she was involved in efforts to address pollution concerns stemming from the ASARCO smelter.

Thelma Gilmur, who was raised on a farm in Alder, Wash., graduated from Pacific Lutheran University and passed on her love of nature as a Girl Scout leader and teacher at Lister Elementary School in Tacoma. She has been a champion of urban green spaces, helping to save Swan Creek from plans to turn it into a landfill site and leading the effort to create the China Lake Nature Area in honor of the historic Chinese encampments in the area. Gilmur helped preserve Tacoma’s Snake Lake, Adriana Hess Wetland Park in University Place, Morse Wildlife Preserve in Graham, and the pond and woods that now bear her name as Thelma Gilmur Park in Fircrest. She has been active in groups including the Tahoma Audubon Society, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, and Washington Environmental Council.