Richard D. Durbin

CROSS PLAINS - Richard Durbin died at home in Cross Plains, Wisconsin on July 7, 2024. In his 93 years he traveled far, studied deeply, and worked hard, contributing much to science, his community, and the land. Those who knew him mourn the loss of an exceptionally wide-ranging and accomplished man.

Richard was born in 1930 in Santa Ana, California to Erma Schooley and Frederick Durbin. As his mother died before he could know her, that role was largely played by Helen Mainhurst, his beloved "Aunt Shaney."

While a student at UCLA, Durbin became interested in botany and microbiology. During that time, he also met and fell in love with Elizabeth Letts, then a student at Pomona College. They married in 1954. Following the birth of a son, Stephen, they moved to Berkeley, California, where Richard received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1957. A second son, Christopher, was born there.

After a few years on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, Durbin moved in 1962 to the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Wisconsin, where he remained for the rest of his career. In addition to his faculty role, he became leader of the USDA Pioneering Research Laboratory newly established there. In 1982, the USDA selected Durbin as its first Scientist of the Year awardee, honoring his work in "increasing science's understanding of the control of plant diseases."

In the following years, Durbin's research program in basic science remained highly productive. He was the author of some 250 scientific publications, including 31 books or book contributions. He advised many graduate students, shared his work at numerous international conferences, and spent a year doing collaborative research at the Institute of Plant Pathology in Bari, Italy. He retired from the USDA and the University of Wisconsin in 1990.

From their first days as new Wisconsinites, Durbin and family put down roots. Elizabeth flourished as a writer, editor, publisher, and teacher. Together they raised their children, including a third son, Jeffrey. After eight years living in Madison, they moved to a new home on land they had purchased near Cross Plains, where father and sons had already established pick-your-own strawberry and cut-your-own Christmas tree operations.

Always physically active, Durbin took up running seriously, his interest kindled by his sons' participation in high school track and cross country. He became a race director in the early years of Madison's Vilas Running Club, and ran in the famed marathons in Boston and Athens. He was also an avid canoeist, and went on many canoe trips with his sons. They tackled rivers in the Canadian Rockies, Alaska, and Utah, as well as exploring closer to home in Minnesota's Boundary Waters, and especially along his beloved Wisconsin River.

Love of the outdoors and professional expertise came together in a newfound passion for local prairie restoration efforts, most extensively on land purchased in Vermont township. There, with the help of son Jeff and grandson Jesse, he worked to establish a large prairie and an oak woodland, both common landscapes in the area before the arrival of Europeans.

Also during this time, Durbin became interested in Wisconsin history. He conducted meticulous research in whatever archives he could find, and frequently interviewed people with personal knowledge of events. He wrote several books and numerous articles to share the knowledge he compiled and synthesized, including nine historical publications for The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Wisconsin Academy Review, Wisconsin River Valley Journal, Voyageur, and Wisconsin Trails. His favorite subject was doubtless the Wisconsin River. In 1997 he published the expansive book, "The Wisconsin River: An Odyssey through Time and Space." He left a work in progress on the Kilbourn Dam near Wisconsin Dells.
 

Personal changes in these years included a divorce from Elizabeth in 1984. In 1986, he married Catherine Righter, a childhood friend from California, and welcomed Cathie's children, Wade and Catherine, into his family. They both very much enjoyed the country life, as did the dogs they were devoted to. They also shared a love of travel, touring and trekking around the world. Stimulated by these experiences, Richard became an aficionado of landscape photography, developing and printing images from his large format camera in his home darkroom. Sadly, Cathie died in 2009.

In 2010, Richard met Carol Costello, who would remain his constant partner the rest of his life. Together they delighted in the birds they watched from the kitchen window and the deer and wild turkeys passing through the yard. They visited local art fairs and made day trips in the countryside, often interrupted by impromptu expeditions to collect prairie seed at the side of the road. Other trips included touring Scotland and parts of northern California with Chris and Sandi Morse, Rick's son and daughter-in-law, who preceded him in death. They also spent lovely times in Honduras and California with his step-daughter, Catherine Downey.

Richard is survived by sons, Jeff and Stephen Durbin; daughter, Catherine Downey; and half-sister, Kathleen Durbin; as well as grandsons, Jesse and Brook Gardner-Durbin. They and those who knew him will never forget his strong and lively presence, his constant enthusiasm and curiosity, his sense of humor and his can-do attitude toward life. All and the land itself will miss him.

A private family memorial will be held. Those who wish may donate to the Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance (swibirds.org) to support prairie restoration. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson Cross Plains

Funeral & Cremation Care

2421 Church St.

(608) 798-3141