Monte Neil Kirven, born August 5, 1936, perished in the wildfires that consumed the forested hills near Santa Rosa, CA, in October of 2017.
Monte’s love of nature and
the outdoors was an integral part of his life. In time, his interest in fishing
and hunting were nurtured into consuming passions that became lifelong
pursuits. When his mother remarried a Navy man, they moved frequently. He
attended Coronado High School in Coronado, CA, and East High School in Memphis,
Tennessee, and graduated in 1955. He then attended the University of
Mississippi where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology in 1960. He
was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and was in the Army ROTC program;
later commissioned as an officer after graduation. In 1964, he was trained in
Military Intelligence at Fort Ord, CA.
Returning
to Coronado, he worked at Scripps Institute of Oceanography before becoming
Chair of the Environmental Education Department at the San Diego Museum of
Natural History. During his tenure there, he earned a Master of Science degree
at San Diego State University studying Caspian and elegant terns.
Between
1966 and 1971, Monte studied the health and productivity of peregrine falcons
nesting in Baja, California and the Gulf of California, Mexico. Fluency in
Spanish aided his research endeavors.
In
1977, Monte earned a Ph.D. in Biology at University of Colorado studying bat
falcons in Venezuela. Returning to California, he taught courses in biology and
ecology at both Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College. During
this period, he collaborated with Robert Riseborough, Geoff Monk, D.A. “Sandy”
Boyce, Brian Walton, and others to determine the pesticide contamination levels
in peregrine prey species; studied the foraging behavior of nesting peregrines
in a geothermal development area via radio-telemetry with Dr. James Enderson;
and was employed by the Ukiah District of the Bureau of Land Management to
conduct a decade-long survey of nesting peregrines in northern California. He
is credited with helping to show eggshell thinning in endangered peregrine falcons
that led to the banning of DDT for agricultural use in 1972.
A
falconer for over 50 years, Monte was accomplished at training peregrine
falcons for the hunting of waterfowl. In addition, he mentored many aspiring
falconers to care properly for their birds and to hunt successfully with them.
He is
survived by his daughter Kathleen K. Groppe of Lancaster, TX, sons Kenneth of
San Diego, CA, and Brian of Point Reyes Station, CA, sister Marcia A. Gray of
Helen, MT, and her children Alex, Tessa, Andrew and Jimmy and former wife
Valerie Quate.
Dani Schwartz copyright. Originally from upstate New York, Dani Schwartz has lived in Coronado since 1996. She is happy to call Coronado home and to have raised her children here.
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