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A natural educator

Ron Bolduan leaves behind legacy of love for outdoors

By Clay Schuldt 6 min read

NEW ULM - The New Ulm community lost one of its most dedicated environmental educators, Ron Bolduan, who died Sunday at Oak Hill Living Center.

Bolduan was a longtime resident of New Ulm. He graduated from New Ulm High School in 1961, shortly after he joined the U.S. Navy. Bolduan served on several ships, including an around the world cruise aboard the USS Enterprise.

Bolduan's daughter Lori Wengert said though her father enjoyed traveling the world his heart was in the New Ulm area. After the service, he returned home raised a family. For 26 years, he worked at General Trading, but it was after he retired that Bolduan was able to indulge his passion for photography and environmental education. He volunteered extensively with regional environmental and historical organizations.

Earlier this year, Bolduan was inducted into the ISD 88 Foundation’s Hall of Fame for his continuous dedication to educating the community.

Wengert said her father's love of nature went back to his childhood. She said he spent his teenage years exploring in the woods and rivers around New Ulm. His favorite place to hang out was at the old Schell’s dam.

"He knew then already that there was something special about just being out in nature," Wengert said.

His love for nature and the environment seemed to increase with age. Wengert said later in life he stopped hunting and fishing.

"He realized it was the feeling of being out in nature that he enjoyed, not the killing," Lori said. "He sold his boat and all of his hunting equipment and invested that money into a camera that he could use for nature and wildlife photography. He could still enjoy being out in the woods exploring but he would shoot with his camera instead of a weapon."

One day while walking along a creek capturing wildlife photos, Bolduan found a bison horn. It was later determined the horn was 9,000 years old.

Lori said after that, her father was hooked on bone and fossil hunting.

Bolduan expanded his environmental work beyond wildlife photography and artifact hunting when he became a board member of the Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway. He took photographs along the whole route for the groups annual guides, pamphlets, and advertisements. His collection of animal bones and other artifacts grew.

Lori Wengert said originally her father stored his items totes in his garage, but soon he started sharing them with others. Combined with his collection of wildlife photos, Bolduan became an effective teacher. He traveled to different schools around the state hosting programs.

Lori Wengert said his favorite schools to visit were Granite Falls, Redwood Falls and Walnut Grove. He even led class river walks along the Cottonwood River, teaching kids to appreciate nature.

By 2009, Boldaun's collection of artifacts grew too large to store at home or haul to school, but he was offered space in a backroom at the old Franklin schoolhouse in Riverside Park to display his treasures.

The old school house was being used as satellite office for the Water Resource Center.

Scott Sparlin, Executive Director for the Coalition for a Clean Minnesota River, had an office in the building at the time and he believed Bolduan's collection was great addition to the building as it fit with the coalition's goal of protecting the Minnesota River.

"The public has to have a reason why we are working to protect the river," Sparlin said. "That's what Ron provided. His wildlife artifacts provided a reason why people should care."

Sparlin said eventually, he decided Bolduan should take over the entire Franklin building and make it a natural history attraction. That is how Bolduan became the curator of the Riverside Environmental Learning Center.

Sparlin said he will always remember Bolduan for his passion and knowledge of the outdoors.

"He would get so excited when the Cottonwood River was low," Sparlin said. "[Bolduan] would find so many artifacts.

Sparlin also praised Bolduan's work as a naturalist and educator.

"He was great with young people," Sparlin said. "[Bolduan] he had great delivery. He could share information in a way that showed kids the beauty of nature. He brought environmental awareness to a lot of young people."

Layla Kump, a local 13-year-old, was of the young people inspired by Bolduan. She first attended The Learning Center at age 7 and kept coming back.

"I am a big fan of the outdoor and seeing all of Ron's nature items and taxidermy kept bringing me back," Kump said.

As she got older, Bolduan became almost like another grandfather to her. He inspired her to learn more about nature.

Kump said the thing she will remember best about Bolduan was his love of nature and the outdoors, but he also had a really good sense of humor.

"He could always make people laugh and I really liked that about him," she said. "I hope people know how lucky they were to know Ron, he was such an awesome guy."

Kump and Sparlin both believed Riverside Environmental Learning Center served as a wonderful legacy for Bolduan's life.

"There’s so much variety that you can’t take in everything in just one visit," Lori Wengert said of the nature center. "It’s one of those places that you need to return to over and over."

One of things that makes the Learning Center special was how much children were encouraged to handle the artifacts. Bolduan wanted kids visiting the center to pick up the animal artifacts for a hands on experience. Too often kids went to museums and were told not to touch, but Riverside Learning Center was different.

Bolduan's son-in-law Chad Wengert said whenever kids were at the center, his father-in-law would say, "It will hurt my feelings if you don't touch the exhibits.'"

Lori Wengert said her father told her that when he was 11 years old, he went to the Brown County Fair, and was fascinated by the mounts on display in the Izaac Walton League building, but very disappointed that they were up so high and he wasn’t allowed to touch them.

"He decided at that moment that someday he was going to create a place where kids would be able to see mounts close up and feel them," she said. With the Riverside Learning Center, he achieved that goal.

Chad Wengert said the environmental center was the first thing on Bolduan's mind when he woke up in the morning and that remained true up until the end.

"I promised my dad on his deathbed that I will not let the nature and history center die with him or his legacy," Lori Wengert said. "I can never replace him in personality, witty comments, extreme knowledge on everything nature and wildlife related, but I am hoping that after 17 years of following in his footsteps I have learned enough to continue what he started. Hopefully he will be watching over me proudly."

She said the Riverside Environmental Learning Center is free to tour and always will be. The center will be closed until Aug. 29, but Lori promised to get it back up and running after. It will be open every other weekend, or by appointment.

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