Clifford Brynildson

Madison- Clifford Levern Brynildson died on Sunday evening, June 29, 2008 at St. Maryâ„¢s Hospital of complications associated with Parkinson â„¢s disease. Cliff was born on July 6, 1922 to Erick and Alma (Hendrickson) Brynildson at rural Taylor, Wisconsin, where the family farmed in Rain Coulee, an area rich with Norwegian folkways and ecological diversity. It was there, on the banks of rippling Beaver Creek, that Cliff caught his first brook trout and came to know the drumming grouse. After graduating from the Rose Hill School (1936) and Melrose High (1940), he joined Company 698 of the Civilian Conservation Corps, where he held the position of Chief SCS Clerk. Soon afterward, Cliff entered the University of Wisconsin - Madison and pursued a degree in Soil Science. On January 27, 1943, his studies were interrupted by induction into the U.S. Army, where he served on the frontlines of the European Theatre battleground in Northern France (Alsace Lorraine) until being severely wounded while helping erect a heavy artillery bridge across the Moselle River on September 12, 1944. After initially recuperating in a London hospital, Cliff was returned stateside to Oâ„¢Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, where he was discharged with numerous honors on December 17, 1945. He then returned to UW-Madison, where he was inspired by such noted professors as Norman Fassett, John Curtis, Henry Greene, Aldo Leopold and Arthur Hasler. Cliff deeply cherished his student days at the university during itâ„¢s pioneering golden era of ecology and completed a baccalaureate degree in soils (1948) and a masterâ„¢s degree in zoology (1950). Following graduate school, Cliff worked as a Fishery Research Biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Hammond Bay Fishery Laboratory near Rogers City, Michigan. There, he and his colleagues developed some of the first limnological strategies for sea lamprey control in the Great Lakes. As pasque flowers unfurled and trout readied to rustle and run, Cliff began his 33 year career with the Wisconsin Conservation Department/DNR in the spring of 1954, where he often worked alongside his brother Oscar, also a fisheries biologist. Together, they leave a legacy of groundwork in salmonoid ecology and cold-stream recovery/restoration. Cliff was preceded in death by his loving and devoted wife of nearly 57 years, Beth, (and died on her birthday), as well as his parents and ten siblings. He is survived by a son, Erik (Maria Gambaro) of Montello and three daughters: Joan (D. Arthur) Paque of New Berlin, Inga (A. Woodson) Hagge of Hazelhurst and Emily (John) Templin of Middleton. Other surviving relatives include four grandchildren: Neil and Adam Paque, Lilija Wren and Perrin Hagge, as well as two siblings, Ardell Brynildson of Greenfield and Dolly Nolan of Las Vegas, Nevada. Cliff is also survived by a brother-in-law, Charles Lease of Mt. Horeb. A memorial service honoring Cliffâ„¢s life will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 5701 Raymond Road, Madison, with a visitation period beginning one hour prior to the service. Cliff and Beth Brynildson were founding members of the Good Shepherd congregation. Memorials in Cliffâ„¢s name may be sent to: The Wisconsin Parkinson Association Aurora Sinai Medical Center, 945 North 12th Street, Suite 4602 Milwaukee, WI 53233 or to the Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin Attention of Sherman Griffin, Funding Director, 605 County Highway FF Dalton, WI 53926.
 ""Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in."" - Henry David Thoreau
""It is a wise child who knows his own father."" "" Homer