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Helping To Make CSU, Chico Better

The Joseph and Myrtle Grundell Endowment will help environmental science students at California State University, Chico learn to protect our natural world for future generations.

Born in blossom time 101 years ago, Myrtle Grundell lived in Petaluma as a child. She wanted to be a teacher and was interested in attending Chico State. Her father insisted she attend his alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley, even moving the family to Berkeley, in part to be closer to the school. She did as her father told her but never forgot Chico. During her long teaching career, she often referred students to Chico State. Myrtle Grundell's husband, Joseph, who died in 1975, believed in the importance of the environment and in its protection. Her affection for CSU, Chico and his commitment to the environment have resulted in the $334,000 Joseph and Myrtle Grundell Endowment to California State University, Chico to benefit its environmental science programs. The Grundells also made generous endowments at Humboldt State University and College of the Redwoods.

Myrtle met Joseph Grundell at a dance at college in the early 1920s. According to her great-nephew Doug Riedy, Myrtle had her wild youthful moments, dancing in outfits that "showed her legs." After college, she taught school for a couple of years, then married Joseph. When he got a job with Standard Oil, they moved to Wasco, Texas, where Myrtle worked as a reporter for the local paper. Eventually, the Grundells returned to California, settling on land in rural San Josˇ. There they grew cherries and other crops. Myrtle taught high school home economics, social studies, and plumbing.

Joseph fished all over the world, from Iceland to New Zealand. Once, in the late 1940s, the Grundells drove north to just below the Alaskan border. Joseph may have been the avid angler, but it was Myrtle who snagged the forty-pounder, the largest fish of the trip. Their travels weren't focused only on fishing, though. Riedy remembered the emphasis on education in their trips. Once they took him back east, not only to visit relatives but also to visit American historical sites. On one trip in the 1950s, the Grundells flew to New York City on the maiden flight of a new airplane. They stayed at the Waldorf-Astoria, touring the kitchens and going to the theatre. Riedy noted that by taking educational trips, Myrtle gained credits that increased her teaching salary. On their way home, they went tent-camping in Colorado.

In 1963 Joseph was starting to slow down and San Josˇ was starting to speed up, so Myrtle retired after thirty-four years of teaching. The couple found Cloverdale, a rural area close to San Francisco, where Myrtle still lives in their beautiful home on a ridge overlooking a valley.

Roger Lederer, dean of the College of Natural Sciences, defined environmental science as "the physical and chemical heart of the natural environment as affected by human activities." At CSU, Chico, there have been environmental science courses for some time, but the undergraduate environmental science degree has been granted only in the past four years. Environmental analysis skills are in great demand, and graduates from the program often go directly to work for companies such as banks, which analyze the environmental conditions of properties, or environmental consulting firms.

Students in environmental science learn the fundamentals of chemistry, physics, weather, and soils. They then learn how to measure, evaluate, and fix problems. While normal biological processes will often take care of a toxic problem, sometimes the amount of toxins is too great for the processes to work before further contamination takes place. Lederer told of a recent situation in which a large area of toxins was discovered. The area was covered with cement to prevent rainfall from pulling toxins into the water supply. This gives the environment years to take care of the problem and protects humans from exposure to toxins.

The Joseph and Myrtle Grundell Endowment will help environmental science students at California State University, Chico learn to protect our natural world for future generations.

by Barbara Alderson, University Publications