We are saddened to report that Dr. Noel Cutright passed away peacefully on the evening of November 10, at his home outside West Bend, with his loving and devoted wife Kate at his bedside after they had spent the weekend with all three of their children.
In honor of his legacy, we would like to share this obituary, prepared by his family:
Noel Jefferson Cutright, 69, died Sunday night at his home in northern Ozaukee County. A well-known and beloved Wisconsin ornithologist, he devoted his life to bird conservation and citizen science. Twice president of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, he was the founder of the Riveredge Bird Club in Newburg and the Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory in Belgium. He was instrumental in the creation of the Bird City Wisconsin program. He was co-author and senior editor of the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas.
Noel worked for WE Energies as senior terrestrial ecologist for 29 years until he retired in 2006. He continued to serve WE Energies in an emeritus position until the time of his death. He served on the boards of many non-profit environmental organizations like the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, Riveredge Nature Center, the Urban Ecology Center and the Mequon Nature Preserve. He recently retired as a board member and historian of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology.
He received numerous awards for his tireless work on bird conservation projects, including a Lifetime Award for Citizen-based Monitoring from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in 2007, Lifetime Achievement Award from Gathering Waters Conservancy in 2010, several achievement awards from the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, the first annual Lorrie Otto Memorial Award from the Milwaukee Audubon Society in 2011, and a DNR Special Recognition award in 2013.
Noel was the only child of Harvey and Mabel Thomas Cutright, both deceased, of Hillsboro, Ohio. He grew up in southern Ohio on Fort Hill State Memorial, an Ohio State Historical Society property near Sinking Spring. He met botanists and ornithologists who did research in the park and he helped his father, who was the memorial’s superintendent, maintain the property. He attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and was awarded master’s and PhD degrees from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
Noel was an avid birder who loved introducing newcomers to the wonders of birding. He gave programs about bird and environmental issues to bird clubs around the state. He participated in hundreds of Christmas Bird Counts and federal Breeding Bird Surveys and served as Wisconsin coordinator of the Great Backyard Bird Count. He was best-known to many as one of the voices on Wisconsin Public Radio’s holiday call-in show about birds.
In presenting a recent award to Noel, DNR Lands Division Administrator Kurt Thiede honored his “outstanding service, leadership and passion for conserving Wisconsin’s bird populations and their habitats.” Added his WPR co-host, Bill Volkert: “The people of Wisconsin are certainly so much better informed about birds because of the work that Noel has done. And I have to say that I believe that the birds of Wisconsin are better off because of his contributions to both education of our wildlife resources and certainly the conservation of birds and their habitats in the state. He’s really made a mark on this state, and for that, all the bird watchers, the bird lovers and the birds themselves are thankful for all Noel has done for us.”
Noel is survived by his wife, Kate Redmond; his children, Robyn Cutright (Drew Meadows) of Lexington, Ky., Seth Cutright of Port Washington and Laurel Cutright of Milwaukee; Kate’s sisters, Molly Redmond (Steve Ring) of St Paul, Minn., Gail Redmond of Kennan; a nephew: Michael Ring (Flannery Clarke); first cousins, Mike (Ronnie) Zindorf, of Richmond, Va., Karen Fuson (Jim Hall) of California, Dede (Art) Agosta, of Scottsdale, Ariz., and John (Jan) Thomas, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and many wonderful friends in the birding community.
Dr. Cutright, you will be missed, but your memory and legacy will live on.
