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Hal and Mary Sundin have been traveling people. They
visited every state in the union and all the National Parks. Even after
Mary’s stroke in 1972, they traveled to many places including Africa,
Mexico, and Europe.
Hal (short for Hjalmar) was born and grew up in Jamestown, NY. His
father was from Sweden and his mother’s family was French Canadian. We
all know that Hal is smart, but did you know that he completed college
in two and a half years through the Navy V-12 College Program,
graduating when he was nineteen years old? He liked school and college
life so much that he spent ten years at it, completing three graduate
degrees and teaching for two and a half years. Hal moved from New York
to Illinois to study sanitary and environmental engineering at the
University of Illinois. Good thing he did, because that’s where he met
Mary, an Illinois native.
They met in 1947; Miss Mary Butterfield was coming down the stairs at a
college open house, Hal saw her and that was it. They married in 1950.
Mary’s grandparents had come to Illinois in the mid 1800’s to farm. She
was born in Champaign and grew up in Libertyville, IL where she went to
a two room school during the depression. She completed a degree in
physical education at the University of Illinois, where she
choreographed and performed in water ballet. She did some substitute
teaching, but her real career was being a wife, mother, and volunteer.
Hal & Mary have two children, Norma (1951) and Eric (1954). Eric lives
in Lake Havasu City, AZ and Norma lives in Dillon, CO. Norma and Hal
climbed all fifty-four of Colorado’s 14ers between 1975 and 1991.
During their years in Illinois, the Sundins built their home and
completed the interior themselves. They also found time for white water
canoeing in Wisconsin and Illinois and for extensive traveling. Their
best trip ever was a tenting safari to Tanzania in 1988 and it wasn’t
the luxury safari of today. They pitched their own tents, slept on the
ground, and traveled by truck for twelve days with all their provisions.
They say that it was just like Out of Africa: animals everywhere from
sunrise to sunset and wild animal noises all night. Their wonderful
Maasai guide knew where all the animals would be and found them. After
the safari, Mary flew home, and Hal stayed to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with
his daughter, Norma.
In 1952, Hal began working for Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers in
Crystal Lake, IL and retired from there (as President) in 1989. Their
life together has been very happy, except for Mary’s stroke. Mary was
originally left-handed and had to learn to do everything all over with
her right hand. She has done wonderfully; she knits, crochets, and still
sews her own clothes. Each week she makes whole wheat bread and really
likes to cook. Mary has been active in garden clubs for fifty-two years,
including the Glenwood Springs’ club; dahlias and orchids are her
passion.
Hal & Mary moved to their favorite place, Glenwood Springs, in 1989 and
are charter members of the 100 Club. Hal loves skiing and hiking and
every other week lets his political and environmental views be known
through his column in the GSPI. He also enjoys woodworking and has made
some furniture for their home. They both love nature. It was Mary who
got Hal interested in photographing and identifying wildflowers. She was
always the best at finding the new and unusual plants.
The most surprising thing about Hal is that he holds the school record
for being tardy in first grade—can you believe 106 times? He says,
“There was always something more interesting to do.” Although he rarely
is late these days, he is always finding something new and interesting.
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