[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 9, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E45-E46]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO ELIZABETH TERWILLIGER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 9, 2007

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Elizabeth 
Terwilliger, one of Marin County's most beloved heroines, an 
environmentalist who instilled a love of nature in children of all 
ages. ``Mrs. T.,'' as she was known to all, died on November 27, 2006, 
at the age of 97.
  Her enthusiastic and interactive teaching style made learning about 
nature especially entertaining and instructive for children and adults 
alike. This included President Reagan who, along with an audience at a 
White House Volunteer Action Award ceremony, flapped his arms like 
``Mr. Vulture'' under her guidance. Her irresistible style ranged from 
mimicking animal behaviors to demonstrations with taxidermied animals, 
some of which had come via her own freezer. In her trademark straw hat, 
she led field trips until she was 85, where her call of ``Something 
special!'' alerted eager participants to yet another marvel of the 
natural world.
  Mrs. T's long-time passion for the environment had burgeoned when she 
started hiking to avoid housework in the 1960s. From that, she became 
committed to inspire the people of the Bay Area to care for the natural 
world as she did. ``People take care of what they love,'' she claimed.
  This mission began with including other housewives, and then their 
children, on her hikes, as well as leading field trips for her 
children's schools and clubs. By the late 60s, she was leading 
volunteer trips 5 days a week for teachers and wildlife organizations 
and, in 1970, created Terwilliger Nature Guides with other volunteers. 
In 1975, the Elizabeth Terwilliger Nature Education Foundation was 
formed; it later merged with the California Center for Wildlife and 
became WildCare, an organization which today teaches 40,000 Bay Area 
school children annually.
  ``WildCare is honored to follow directly in Mrs. T's adventurous 
footsteps,'' said Executive Director Karen J. Wilson.'' We are all 
fortunate that her enthusiasm and energy will live on in the 
generations of children she has inspired. To underscore her Bay Area 
legacy, WildCare recently named our San Rafael facility in her honor--
we have become the Terwilliger WildCare Center.''

[[Page E46]]

  She was also a tireless advocate for the environment and open space. 
Her mark is everywhere in Marin County from the establishment of the 
Butterfly Grove at Muir Beach to creation of countywide bike paths to 
preservation of Angel Island and countless other conservation efforts.
  Born in Hawaii in 1909, Elizabeth Terwilliger attended the University 
of Hawaii, and then came to the mainland to earn a master's degree at 
Columbia University and a nursing degree at Stanford. She met her 
future husband Calvin, an orthopedic surgeon, at Stanford, and they 
married in 1939. They moved to Marin in 1946. Calvin passed away in 
1990. She is survived by their daughter Lynn Ellen, their son John, and 
grandsons Dana, Ryan, and Sean.
  Elizabeth Terwilliger earned numerous well-deserved accolades and 
awards, but her true legacy is the contagious passion she inspired in 
children and adults. Everywhere we see people living her watchword, 
``This is my country. Wherever I go, I will leave it more beautiful 
than I found it.''
  Madam Speaker, Mrs. T. truly left this country beautiful, and we 
thank and honor her for her for it.

                          ____________________