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152
Journal of the LEPIDOPTERISTS, Society
OBITUARY
MAURICE LOUIS BRISTOL (1890-1975)
Maurice Louis Bristol, a charter member of The Lepidopterists, Society, died at his home in Elgin, Illinois on 13 February 1975. He was born in Naperville, Illinois, 23 March 1890, and moved to Elgin in 1906. He was employed by the Elgin National Watch Company and later by the David C. Cook Publishing Company until his retirement. He never married and is survived by two brothers, Harris and George, and two sisters, Mrs. Hattie Graves and Mrs. Lucy Miller.
Bristol began to collect butterflies as a boy of eight. He was an all-around naturalist of the old school, whose interests in addition to Lepidoptera included Coleoptera, birds, fossils, nature photography and plants, especially native prairie species, which he grew in his back yard. When the Audubon Society of Kane County, of which he was also a charter member, reconstructed a small patch of native prairie north of Elgin, he donated many of the plants for it, and it was named in his honor. He actively encouraged young people in developing an interest in nature and was well known in Elgin for his activities and his devotion to children.
Bristol's collecting in the Elgin area yielded such Illinois rarities as Glaucopsyche lygdamus couperi Grote and Chlosyne harrisii (Scudder), as well as most of the known Illinois specimens of Calephilis muticum McAlpine. He rediscovered the classic Wakelee, Michigan type locality of Euptychia mitchelli (French) in the late 1920's and collected there regularly for many years. His particular interests were Apantesis Catocala, Schinia, Papaipema and Theclinae. He maintained an extensive correspondence and exchange with other lepidopterists.
I remember encountering Maurice at Wakelee on my first visit there a number of years ago. Then nearly 70, he was collecting with an energy that I, less than half his age, envied. He retained that vigor and continued active field work until the end of his life; at the time of his unexpected passing he was busily planning for his next season. His collection has been acquired by the Illinois Natural History Survey. Unfortunately, some of it was found to have suffered dermestid damage, but the greater portion was intact and will be incorporated into the Survey's research collection.
The assistance of Bristol's friend and collecting companion Irwin Leeuw, and his sister, Mrs. Hattie Graves, in the preparation of this article and in arranging for the transfer of his collection to the Survey is gratefully acknowledged.
Roderick R. Irwin, Illinois Natural History Survey, Urbana, Illinois 61801.