A Tribute to Russ Tooley

Russ Tooley was a charter member of the Friends of Hika Bay, one of the first Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership (LNRP) supported watershed groups. As the Water Quality Chair, he helped establish the student intern program at UW-Green Bay Manitowoc Campus. Initiated in 2010, the program led to the formation of the Lakeshore Water Institute.

The following tribute was written by Russ’s wife, Mary, and shared at the 2024 Lakeshore Water Summit:

“In 1962, Russ began his career in computing at Allis Chalmers in West Allis. The computer filled a room and was run on thousands of punch cards. His fascination and love of computing lasted for his entire life. But in all his work, Russ' major focus was on using the computer as a tool to help people solve their problems and make life better.

When Russ retired, he did not stop working. For his last twenty years, he worked on water quality issues with Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership, Centerville Cares and here at the university.  He applied his vast knowledge of computers to write programs and create water testing instruments that would provide clear, easily accessible information about the quality of our waters. A phrase I frequently heard was, "Hey Mary, I'm going to the creek." Russ worked countless hours building and testing an affordable system of water sampling. Rain events were big events at our house. 

But, without a doubt, the project that he loved the most was working with the students and professors here at UW Green Bay in Manitowoc. He eagerly awaited those summer weeks and spent the rest of the year improving his computer programs to display the interns' sampling results. His goal was to help the students use the results of their work in the creeks and the lab to tell a story. To Russ, the thousands and thousands of numbers that resulted from sampling were much more than statistics on charts. They were a story the community needed to know about the health of our waterways. 

May this story continue with his spirit of dedication, joy and hope.”

— Mary Tooley