Tribute to Dr. S. W. Witmer
S.W. Witmer was born in Farmersville, Pa., in 1888 and died in Goshen
Feb. 2, 1990. He began teaching at age 17 in Lancaster County, Pa., then
went to Goshen College for his higher education. He received a bachelor's
degree in 1914 and a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin in
1915 before returning to Goshen College to teach. He taught biology and
botany almost continuously from 1915 to 1959 and thereafter at a reduced
load. From the GC campus station, Witmer served as a "cooperative weather
observer" for the U.S. Weather Bureau from 1918 to 1965. While he taught,
he earned a Ph.D. degree in 1935 from Indiana University.
Dr. Witmer and his wife, Sana, also a GC graduate and teacher, went on five
major plant-hunting expeditions from Mexico to the Hudson Bay. An inveterate
plant hunter, Dr. Witmer made Indiana history when in 1944 he discovered
an Iliamma remota or "Kankakee Mallow" along the Norfolk
and Western Railway in Goshen. The plant, "definitely the rarest plant
in Indiana" according to a Department of Natural Resources source,
is found in only four other sites in the world besides Goshen.
During retirement, Dr. Witmer continued his life-long interest in plant
identification. In the early 1970s, he identified trees, shrubs and vines
at Elkhart County's Ox Bow Park. The Elkhart County Park Board later honored
him by naming Witmer Trace, a 1.1 mile self-guided nature trail, after him.
In 1979, he published The Green Squirrel, an illustrated book of
children's verse.
Witmer Woods presently consists of 101 varieties of plants native to Indiana,
making it a unique tribute to one who spent his life learning and teaching
about living things.
Biology Home Page
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Maintained by: Stan Grove
Witmer
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