George Willett, Ornithologist of the Los Angeles County Museum and member of the Committee on Conservation of the Southern California Academy of Sciences died in Los Angeles on August 2, 1945.
Mr. Willett had attained a place of distinction in the fields of ornithology, mammalogy, conchology, and paleontology. His numerous published papers in all of these branches of the zoological sciences had won for him the distinction of being an authority. More than that, his genial nature, and untiring efforts in behalf of others made for him a host of loyal friends.
George Willett was born in Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada, May 28, 1879, the son of George and Hannah Theodosia (Hill) Willett. His father was an ordained Congregational minister.
Very early in life he developed the keen powers of observation and analysis which enabled him to obtain first hand knowledge of living creatures, and to organize, correlate and record his finding, thereby to later win for himself a place among scientists who possessed far more academic training than did he.
His grammer school work was obtained in Cowansville and Eaton Corner, Ontario, Canada, and Redlands, California, and his high-schooling was had at San Luis Obispo and Whittier, California.
He graduated from Whittier Preparatory School in 1896. The following year he entered Whittier College, where he played on the football team. He was not able to carry through his college work owing to economic pressure.
On May 5, 1898 he enlisted in the 7th California Volunteer Infantry, Company G, for the war with Spain. Later he served in Company A of the 35th U.S. Volunteer Infantry on active duty against Aguinaldo in the Phillipine Islands. He was honorably discharge on December 2, 1898, and thereafter served for a shore time as a member of the Manila police force, before returning to the United States.
In November of 1902 he joined the U.S. Geological Survery and served under Harry Patterson until October 1903.
The following year he became a member of the Los Angeles Polic force. He remained in police service for eight years during which he carried on intensive work in ornithology in his spare time.
Early in 1905 he married Anna M. Wells, and his son George Jr. was born the following year.
In 1906 he was elected to the Vice-presidency of the Cooper Ornithological Club. Three years later he was made a member of the Committee appointed by that organization to prepare documents and historical data for inclusion in the corner stone of the Museum building then being erected in Exposition Park. In 1912, the Cooper Club published his "Birds of the Pacific Slope of California." This same year he was made a member of the Conservation Committee of the Southern Division of the Cooper Ornithological Club.
In the summer of 1912 he resigned his sergeancy in the Police Department and became Ornithologist for the U.S. Biological Survey.
From that year on until 1926 most of his time was spent in Alaska. This was probably the most acquisitive period of George Willett's life from the standpoint of biological study and observation in the field.
The first six years, 1912 to 1917, her served as Ornithologist of the U.S. Biological Survey, his studies taking him to Sitka in the summers of 1912-'13, and to Forrester Island in 1914 to '17. His winters were spent in Arizona and California except for a short trip to Laysan and Midway Islands in 1913.
From 1918 to 1921 he pursued biological studies independently, combining them with trapping, fishing and other occupations. He was on Forrester Island from 1919 and 1920 and also lived on Prince of Wales Island for a period of time. He was also at Wrangell in 1920 and '21.
From 1921 to 1925 he was a Deputy U.S. Marshall in Ketchikan, Alaska, where, on February 18, 1925 he married Ora Alta Bellah of Ketchikan. Thereafter Ora was his constant companion in the field and able assistant in his scientific endeavors. In the summer of 1925 he and his wife ran a fox farm on a small island off the coast of Alaska.
From June to December 1926 he served as Ornithologist of the Alaska Game Commission. The following February he was called to the Los Angeles Museum to serve as acting Ornithologist on the Science Staff. In July of 1928 he became Curator of Ornithology in that institution, which position he held until the day of his death.
The nineteen years in which he held this post were the most productive of his entire career, as attested by the many published records, teh considerable number of new species that he described, and the wealth of material that he added to the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum.
A list of the articles on natural history subjects which he wrote and published between 1895 and 1945, totaling 126, reveals that three-fifths of the items were issued during the time that he served as head of the Department of Ornithology at the Museum.
Several of his papers appeared in our Bulletin of the Academy.
He was buried with military honors in the Sawtelle Soldiers Home Cemetary, the final services being conducted by Roosevelt Camp, United Spanish War Veterans, of which organization he was a member.