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- Chicago Tribune, Thursday, February 24, 1994
ISABEL BASSETT WASSON, A TEACHER AND GEOLOGIST
Isabel Bassett Wasson, 97, a retired teacher in River Forest, had been
a pioneer woman petroleum geologist and, in 1920, the first ranger-naturalist
in Yellowstone National Park.
A resident from 1926 to 1983 of River Forest, she died Monday in
Plymouth Place in LaGrange Park.
Although not a formal teacher, she presented a series of courses in
the 4th, 5th and 6th grades in River Forest for 10 years. She focused on
geology, botany, zoology and ornithology.
Mrs. Wasson graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1918 from Wellesley College in
Massachusetts and then studied geology at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and the University of Chicago. In 1920, she received a master's
degree in it from Columbia University in New York.
She then went to work in Yellowstone as a ranger-naturalist,
developing procedures that were subsequently used in training park rangers.
The next few years saw her working as a field geologist for the Pure
Oil Co. She quit her formal employment in petroleum geology in 192
Her interests in nature and the physical sciences persisted through
her years living in the western suburb. In addition to teaching her courses,
she had been active with the Morton Arboretum, the Field Museum of Natural
History and the Chicago Academy of Sciences.
Survivors include two daughters, Elizabeth Bergstrom and Anne Harney
Gallagher; a son, Edward, a sister; 13 grandchildren; and 18 great-great-
grandchildren.
Plans for a memorial service were pending.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1897 - Deceased
, d. Deceased