DAVID B. CHARLTON
ENIVORMENTAL FIGURE, DIES
Summary: Involved since 1926 in trying to keep the Willamette free of pollutants, the Portland resident called clean water “my hobby”
David B Charlton, a bacteriologist with a longtime interest in environmental issues and water conservation, died Friday, March 29, 1996, in a Portland convalescent center. He was 92.
Hi involvement spanned seven decades, beginning in 1926, when he tested the Willamette River for pollutants as part of his job as a laboratory technician with the Portland Bureau of Health.
“It was just a job at first,” he said in a 1983 interview. “but then, as a citizen, I was interested in the salmon runs. I always thought it ironic that it was the fishermen and not the health officials who were worried about pollution in the Willamette.”
Born Jan. 26, 1904, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Mr. Charlton received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from University of British Columbia in 1926 and a master’s degree in bacteriology from Cornell University in 1929.
After earning a Ph.D. from Iowa State College, now Iowa State University, in 1933, he returned to Portland, where he founded Charlton Laboratories the following year. In 1972 he retired from the firm, which continues as MEI-Charlton.
In one of Mr. Charlton's first important contracts at the engineering firm, a survey of Portland's Willamette River pollution revealed that more than three miles of the once-pure waterway were devoid of oxygen, and a 10-mile stretch of the river had such low oxygen levels it could not support fish life.
He spoke out for cleaning the environment before it was a popular view, telling business and industry it would be to their advantage. He called clean water simply ''my hobby,'' and he even took his children to the dedication of the city's first sewage plant in 1952.
In addition to his efforts to clean up the Willamette, Mr. Charltonworked to save the Rogue River from dams. He joined the Izaak Walton League in 1934, later serving as president of the Oregon chapter and chairman of the national executive board.
Among other civic and environmental interests, he advised three governors on environmental issues. He was a past president of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Oregon Roadside Council, and he was chairman of Gov. Tom McCall's Livable Oregon Committee and the Chamber of Commerce's Environmental Standards Committee.
He received numerous awards and honors, including, in 1980, the Aubrey R. Watzek Award from Lewis & Clark College for pioneering in environmental concerns in the Pacific Northwest.
He married Frances Spaulding in 1930; she died in 1977. In 1985 he married Phyllis Weinhart; she died in 1991.
Survivors include his daughters, Mary E. Labadie and Phyllis Charlton, both of Portland; sons, Richard T. and John B., also of Portland; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 4, in the Adams Chapel at River View Cemetery.
Disposition was by cremation, followed by interment in River View Cemetery.
[The Oregonian, 2 Apr 1996, pB05]
- Contributed by: FriendsofRiverView
ENIVORMENTAL FIGURE, DIES
Summary: Involved since 1926 in trying to keep the Willamette free of pollutants, the Portland resident called clean water “my hobby”
David B Charlton, a bacteriologist with a longtime interest in environmental issues and water conservation, died Friday, March 29, 1996, in a Portland convalescent center. He was 92.
Hi involvement spanned seven decades, beginning in 1926, when he tested the Willamette River for pollutants as part of his job as a laboratory technician with the Portland Bureau of Health.
“It was just a job at first,” he said in a 1983 interview. “but then, as a citizen, I was interested in the salmon runs. I always thought it ironic that it was the fishermen and not the health officials who were worried about pollution in the Willamette.”
Born Jan. 26, 1904, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Mr. Charlton received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from University of British Columbia in 1926 and a master’s degree in bacteriology from Cornell University in 1929.
After earning a Ph.D. from Iowa State College, now Iowa State University, in 1933, he returned to Portland, where he founded Charlton Laboratories the following year. In 1972 he retired from the firm, which continues as MEI-Charlton.
In one of Mr. Charlton's first important contracts at the engineering firm, a survey of Portland's Willamette River pollution revealed that more than three miles of the once-pure waterway were devoid of oxygen, and a 10-mile stretch of the river had such low oxygen levels it could not support fish life.
He spoke out for cleaning the environment before it was a popular view, telling business and industry it would be to their advantage. He called clean water simply ''my hobby,'' and he even took his children to the dedication of the city's first sewage plant in 1952.
In addition to his efforts to clean up the Willamette, Mr. Charltonworked to save the Rogue River from dams. He joined the Izaak Walton League in 1934, later serving as president of the Oregon chapter and chairman of the national executive board.
Among other civic and environmental interests, he advised three governors on environmental issues. He was a past president of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Oregon Roadside Council, and he was chairman of Gov. Tom McCall's Livable Oregon Committee and the Chamber of Commerce's Environmental Standards Committee.
He received numerous awards and honors, including, in 1980, the Aubrey R. Watzek Award from Lewis & Clark College for pioneering in environmental concerns in the Pacific Northwest.
He married Frances Spaulding in 1930; she died in 1977. In 1985 he married Phyllis Weinhart; she died in 1991.
Survivors include his daughters, Mary E. Labadie and Phyllis Charlton, both of Portland; sons, Richard T. and John B., also of Portland; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 4, in the Adams Chapel at River View Cemetery.
Disposition was by cremation, followed by interment in River View Cemetery.
[The Oregonian, 2 Apr 1996, pB05]
- Contributed by: FriendsofRiverView
DAVID B. CHARLTON
ENIVORMENTAL FIGURE, DIES
Summary: Involved since 1926 in trying to keep the Willamette free of pollutants, the Portland resident called clean water “my hobby”
David B Charlton, a bacteriologist with a longtime interest in environmental issues and water conservation, died Friday, March 29, 1996, in a Portland convalescent center. He was 92.
Hi involvement spanned seven decades, beginning in 1926, when he tested the Willamette River for pollutants as part of his job as a laboratory technician with the Portland Bureau of Health.
“It was just a job at first,” he said in a 1983 interview. “but then, as a citizen, I was interested in the salmon runs. I always thought it ironic that it was the fishermen and not the health officials who were worried about pollution in the Willamette.”
Born Jan. 26, 1904, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Mr. Charlton received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from University of British Columbia in 1926 and a master’s degree in bacteriology from Cornell University in 1929.
After earning a Ph.D. from Iowa State College, now Iowa State University, in 1933, he returned to Portland, where he founded Charlton Laboratories the following year. In 1972 he retired from the firm, which continues as MEI-Charlton.
In one of Mr. Charlton's first important contracts at the engineering firm, a survey of Portland's Willamette River pollution revealed that more than three miles of the once-pure waterway were devoid of oxygen, and a 10-mile stretch of the river had such low oxygen levels it could not support fish life.
He spoke out for cleaning the environment before it was a popular view, telling business and industry it would be to their advantage. He called clean water simply ''my hobby,'' and he even took his children to the dedication of the city's first sewage plant in 1952.
In addition to his efforts to clean up the Willamette, Mr. Charltonworked to save the Rogue River from dams. He joined the Izaak Walton League in 1934, later serving as president of the Oregon chapter and chairman of the national executive board.
Among other civic and environmental interests, he advised three governors on environmental issues. He was a past president of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Oregon Roadside Council, and he was chairman of Gov. Tom McCall's Livable Oregon Committee and the Chamber of Commerce's Environmental Standards Committee.
He received numerous awards and honors, including, in 1980, the Aubrey R. Watzek Award from Lewis & Clark College for pioneering in environmental concerns in the Pacific Northwest.
He married Frances Spaulding in 1930; she died in 1977. In 1985 he married Phyllis Weinhart; she died in 1991.
Survivors include his daughters, Mary E. Labadie and Phyllis Charlton, both of Portland; sons, Richard T. and John B., also of Portland; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 4, in the Adams Chapel at River View Cemetery.
Disposition was by cremation, followed by interment in River View Cemetery.
[The Oregonian, 2 Apr 1996, pB05]
- Contributed by: FriendsofRiverView
ENIVORMENTAL FIGURE, DIES
Summary: Involved since 1926 in trying to keep the Willamette free of pollutants, the Portland resident called clean water “my hobby”
David B Charlton, a bacteriologist with a longtime interest in environmental issues and water conservation, died Friday, March 29, 1996, in a Portland convalescent center. He was 92.
Hi involvement spanned seven decades, beginning in 1926, when he tested the Willamette River for pollutants as part of his job as a laboratory technician with the Portland Bureau of Health.
“It was just a job at first,” he said in a 1983 interview. “but then, as a citizen, I was interested in the salmon runs. I always thought it ironic that it was the fishermen and not the health officials who were worried about pollution in the Willamette.”
Born Jan. 26, 1904, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Mr. Charlton received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from University of British Columbia in 1926 and a master’s degree in bacteriology from Cornell University in 1929.
After earning a Ph.D. from Iowa State College, now Iowa State University, in 1933, he returned to Portland, where he founded Charlton Laboratories the following year. In 1972 he retired from the firm, which continues as MEI-Charlton.
In one of Mr. Charlton's first important contracts at the engineering firm, a survey of Portland's Willamette River pollution revealed that more than three miles of the once-pure waterway were devoid of oxygen, and a 10-mile stretch of the river had such low oxygen levels it could not support fish life.
He spoke out for cleaning the environment before it was a popular view, telling business and industry it would be to their advantage. He called clean water simply ''my hobby,'' and he even took his children to the dedication of the city's first sewage plant in 1952.
In addition to his efforts to clean up the Willamette, Mr. Charltonworked to save the Rogue River from dams. He joined the Izaak Walton League in 1934, later serving as president of the Oregon chapter and chairman of the national executive board.
Among other civic and environmental interests, he advised three governors on environmental issues. He was a past president of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Oregon Roadside Council, and he was chairman of Gov. Tom McCall's Livable Oregon Committee and the Chamber of Commerce's Environmental Standards Committee.
He received numerous awards and honors, including, in 1980, the Aubrey R. Watzek Award from Lewis & Clark College for pioneering in environmental concerns in the Pacific Northwest.
He married Frances Spaulding in 1930; she died in 1977. In 1985 he married Phyllis Weinhart; she died in 1991.
Survivors include his daughters, Mary E. Labadie and Phyllis Charlton, both of Portland; sons, Richard T. and John B., also of Portland; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 4, in the Adams Chapel at River View Cemetery.
Disposition was by cremation, followed by interment in River View Cemetery.
[The Oregonian, 2 Apr 1996, pB05]
- Contributed by: FriendsofRiverView
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