Natural History Museum founder dies

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - By Kristy Creel

E. J. Koestner, founding director of the Dayton Museum of Natural History, died on Saturday, September 8 in Florida.

“Joe was a wonderful human being, who inspired both kids and adults with his love of the natural sciences,” notes William F. Patterson, a 50-plus year volunteer with the Dayton Society of Natural History (DSNH). “The Museum was his whole life for many years, and I am not certain it would exist today if not for him.”

Koestner came to the museum in 1949, when it was still part of the Dayton Public Library.  He worked part-time as Education Director until 1954, when he left his job as a school teacher to become the museum’s Director.

His immediate task, accomplished in 1955, was to oversee the transfer of the museum collection from the Library to the Dayton Society of Natural History, which had been formed in 1952. He opened the new Dayton Museum of Natural History on Ridge Avenue in 1958, and continued his work as an educator, teaching museum classes while he oversaw the operations and development of the museum.

When he retired in 1986, after 32 years as Director, Koestner was named Director Emeritus.

“The impact of his legacy - as well as his memorable personality - on our community is obvious by the number of people who still ask about him,” notes Mark J. Meister, President and CEO of the DSNH. “The fact is that everything we do today to advance the work of the Society is a continuation of what he started nearly sixty years ago.”

Originally from Piper City, Illinois, Koestner came to Dayton in the late 1940s to teach science at Brookville High School.

For his work at the Dayton Museum of Natural History, Koestner received the Elsie D. B. Naumburg Award for outstanding museum professionals in 1970 and was presented with an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Dayton in 1986.