Owen Justus Gromme was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on July 5th 1896 and grew up along the shores of Lake Winnebago. There during his early formative years he learned the ways of nature from his father and the local hunters, trappers and woodsmen that made this region their home. From his high school assembly room, he watched massive flocks of waterfowl staging on Lake Winnebago (one of the reasons he claims he never graduated from high school.) He shot Prairie Chickens and geese and spent his days in the wetlands, fields and forests near his home. This was a time of great learning for Gromme and a time that influenced the remainder of his life.

Gromme worked at the Milwaukee Public Museum for 43 years, beginning in 1922, retiring...