Dale Engquist is one of those rare individuals who comes along only once in a great while. He was a dear friend, a role model, and a guiding light for both Shirley Heinze Land Trust and the broader cause of conservation in northwestern Indiana. This is his story.
After earning a master’s degree in botany at the University of Illinois, Dale had planned to pursue a doctorate at the University of California and a career in academia. But his life took a turn after spending a summer at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. A 42-year career with the National Park Service followed, with Dale serving in various roles at parks across the country before landing in northwestern Indiana to become assistant superintendent of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Five years later, he was named superintendent, a position he held for 24 years. Dale’s leadership at the park service was marked by a focus on environmental education, conservation, and community engagement. During his tenure, he started the Douglas Center for Environmental Education in Gary and helped to form the Dunes Learning Center in Porter.
I first met Dale just a few days after I joined Shirley Heinze in April of 2005. I went to his office to discuss parcels we wanted to transfer to the Lakeshore. My first impression was that this was a person who took his job very seriously. He held an encyclopedic knowledge of his park. And he really liked maps! A year later, when we learned that Dale was retiring from the park service, we asked him to consider joining our board of directors, and, surprisingly, he said “yes” on one condition: “no fundraising.” In an instant, this sleepy little land trust gained some good street credibility and a wealth of expertise in organizational development, land management and protection, and environmental education.
Dale brought to us — and the larger environmental community — a culture of collaboration. In addition to his work with Shirley Heinze, Dale served on the board of Save the Dunes, was a fellow Rotarian, and was active in local city government. He demonstrated time and again that objectivity, open dialogue, paying attention to details, and a forward-looking attitude comprise a recipe for success. Another thing Dale did, probably unbeknownst to himself, was serve as a mentor for me and other members of a younger generation of conservationists.
Dale was our board president from 2010 to 2012, then became an active member of our Advisory Council, and for many years helped lead our Land Strategy Committee, which oversees the acquisition of new preserve property. And this guy who swore he’d do anything but fundraising, gave a nod with a subtle smile, when asked to serve as the co-chair of our first-ever capital campaign. It’s no surprise that the campaign was a great success.
Dale was with us quite literally to the very end when, after attending our annual fundraising event in June of 2017, he died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 77. With his leadership and organizational skills, he transformed Shirley Heinze in many ways. He was all about partnership and collaboration. He was direct and genuine, and he had a one-of-a-kind leadership style.
Shortly after his death, we named a then-recent 165-acre Shirley Heinze acquisition adjacent to the IDNL Heron Rookery the Dale B. Engquist Nature Preserve in honor of Dale’s service to land conservation in northwestern Indiana — a fitting tribute to a great leader who made a real difference.
— Kris Krouse, Executive Director
