Eville GORHAM

Age 94, of Minneapolis/St. Paul Passed away at home on January 14, 2020. An internationally renowned ecologist and environmentalist, he worked for 36 years at the University of Minnesota and retired as Regent's Professor Emeritus in 1998. Eville was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to parents Shirley and Ralph (Jimmie) Gorham. His lifelong love of the natural world began when he was a boy wandering and paddling around the Owl's Nest, an island in Lake Micmac where the family had a cabin. Later he earned degrees in biology and zoology from Dalhousie University, Halifax, and a Ph.D. in botany from University College London, England in 1951. Eville was a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of Canada, and the Ecological Society of America. In 2005 he received the Society of Wetland Ecologists Lifetime Achievement Award. During the 1950s Eville worked mostly in England, where he conducted what he called his "most innovative and exciting research on acid rain and radioactive fallout." A passionate yet humble scientist, he claimed that much of his work "depended on chance and serendipity for its success." Eville was still submitting articles to international journals at the end of his life. A dedicated teacher, he mentored many graduate students, promoted women in science, and loved teaching at field stations, including at Lake Itasca, the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Eville was a devoted husband and father, who called his wife Ada "the love of my life" and told his children they could do anything they set their minds to. He shared his love of literature with them, told enchanting bedtime stories, and built magical multi-room igloos with candlelit windows and rooftop ice slides. Eville took his family on many trips to visit his mother at "The Farm" in Nova Scotia and Ada's relatives on Prince Edward Island. He also brought them along to Itasca in the summer, where they spent happy hours swimming and paddling, hiking, picking blueberries, and playing ping pong with the students. Eville was pre-deceased by his wife Ada (MacLeod) and son-in-law Richard Wilson, and is survived by daughters Kerstin (Gordon Goodwin) of St. Paul, Vivien (Adrian MacDonald) of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and Jocelyn (Shane Donohue) of Beldenville, Wisconsin, and son Jamie of Crystal; grand children Anna (Andrew) Granias, Neil Bartholomay, Amie and Innes MacDonald, and Rowan Wilson; and his late-life partner Sofia Bachmann. A remembrance of Eville's life will be held on Sunday, February 23, at 2:00 pm, at the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, 900 Mount Curve Avenue. Underground parking is available in the nearby Walker Arts Center. In lieu of flowers please send gifts to the environmental organization of your choice."