Winifred May Reuning

Winifred May Reuning left us too soon last week at age 62. She was born to Wilhelm and Ruth Reuning in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania in 1953. She attended school in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania where she graduated valedictorian of her high school class. She then went on to attend Hobart and William Smith College and graduated with a BA in English. After college she began a long time career with the National Science Foundation’s Division of Polar Programs in 1980. She was one of the pioneering women to deploy to Antarctica in the early days of her NSF career. She served for many years as the editor of the Antarctic Journal of the United States and, more recently, she served as Polar’s web master.

As a measure of her contributions to Antarctic science and the respect with which she was regarded professionally, a geographic feature on Alexander Island, the Reuning Glacier, was named in her honor by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names to the U. S. Board on Geographic Names.

She is survived by her brother, Fred Reuning and his wife, Jan Callison and by her sister, Kathy Hepner and her husband, George Hepner. She is also survived by her nieces and nephews, Sophie Moser, Claire Reuning, Kevin Reuning, Karl Hepner, and Ethan Hepner and their families. Winnie was also an important member of the extended Shetlock family and is survived by many loving relatives and friends. She was predeceased by her husband, Gar Botsum and by her loving parents, Wilhelm and Ruth Reuning.

A memorial service will be held this Saturday, August 15th at the Murphy Funeral Home,4510 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA. at 12 noon. A gathering of friends and family will follow at the Front Page restaurant at 4201 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA.

Her family requests that donations in remembrance of Winnie be made to her alma mater, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where she made many fond memories.