In Remembrance: Richard Stenstrom
Professor Emeritus of Geology Richard “Dick” Stenstrom’58, an avid outdoorsman and world traveler, passed away in Beloit at the age of 87.
Stenstrom grew up in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, and enjoyed a childhood on the campus of George Williams College, where his father was a groundskeeper and his mother worked in the business office. He earned a bachelor of science degree from Beloit College in 1958 and, from the University of Chicago, both a master’s in geology in 1962 and a doctorate in geophysical sciences in 1964.
In honor of his parents, he established the Oscar and Erma Stenstrom Endowed Fund at Beloit, to support hydrologic and environmental research in geology and the interdisciplinary application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) on campus. In retirement, he bought a house near the Beloit campus which he named the Georgina Stenstrom Center after his late wife. He shared an office with Woodard at the Stenstrom Center, which has offices for retired faculty and houses The Society for Learning Unlimited (SLU), a local nonprofit in which he was involved.
He was an avid outdoorsman and traveled all over the world. He discovered a creek in British Columbia which now bears his name — Stenstrom Creek.
He is remembered by friends and colleagues as easy-going with a dry sense of humor, entertaining, and fun. In an alumni news update, he once noted that one of his favorite memories as a Beloit College student was seeing folk musician and social activist Pete Seeger perform to a full house in Eaton Chapel in the spring of 1958. He recalled “encore and encore from (Seeger’s) vast repertoire of folk music” on what he described as “a unique evening of togetherness.”
Senstrom is survived by his son Eric and his sister Carol.
