Melvin A. Traylor Jr. 92, of Evanston, IL passed away Feb. 11, 2008. His parents Melvin & Dorothy (nee Yerby) Traylor.

beloved husband of the late Marjorie Sharp Traylor;
loving father of Nancy T. (Fredrick) Tessmer

and stepfather of Richard W. (Susan) Sharp Jr., Lucy Sharp (Lee) Malone, Daniel W. (Lynn) Sharp and Melissa Sharp (Todd) Leasia;
cherished grandfather of nine and great-grandfather of nine; dear uncle of Sally Healy (Lee) Frank.
Also survived by many other nieces, nephews, grandnieces and nephews and great-grandnieces.

Memorial Service 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24 at the First Congregational Church of Wilmette, 1125 Wilmette Ave., Wilmette. Interment private.
Arrangements ©by Wm. H. Scott Funeral Home,
Published in a Chicago Tribune Media Group Publication on Feb. 14, 2008
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Noted ornithologist Melvin A. Traylor Jr. dies at 92
February 20, 2008
©By Trevor Jensen, Tribune reporter

Melvin A. Traylor Jr. did pioneering work in classifying dozens of birds collected during monthlong treks through the deepest jungles of Africa and Latin America on behalf of the Field Museum.

A one-eyed ornithologist as a result of an injury suffered in World War II in the battle for Tarawa, Mr. Traylor's lifelong association with the Field Museum included many years as curator of ornithology and chairman of zoology.

Mr. Traylor, 92, died of natural causes Monday, Feb. 11, in the King Home in Evanston, said his stepdaughter, Melissa Sharp Leasia.

The son of a prominent Chicago banker, Mr. Traylor started bird-watching as a boy. He made his first collecting expedition on behalf of the Field Museum, a camping trip through the Yucatan, as a volunteer shortly after graduating from Harvard with a biology degree in 1937.

The museum liked his work and enlisted Mr. Traylor's help in collecting birds on a privately sponsored expedition to the Galapagos Islands. Along the way the team stopped in Havana, and after one booze-soaked night enjoyed a lunch with author Ernest Hemingway, according to an entry in the meticulous journals Mr. Traylor kept throughout his life.

As U.S. participation in World War II loomed, Mr. Traylor enlisted in the Marine Corps and shipped out to the South Pacific. He was awarded a Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry in the landing at Guadalcanal. In 1943, he lost his left eye during fierce fighting on the atoll of Tarawa.

Cleared from battle duty, he returned to the Pacific to do research on wind and waves that was deemed crucial to Navy operations for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. After the war, he was among witnesses to the atomic bomb tests at Bikini atoll, his stepdaughter said. He wrote in his journal of the mushroom cloud and how "it didn't seem impressive till you realized we were 80 miles away."

Part of a bygone era of "gentleman scientists," he continued to do volunteer work for the Field until joining the museum's staff in 1956, when he became an assistant curator.

His specialty was flycatchers, a bird family of seemingly infinite variety. His expeditions took him to Angola, Sudan and what is now Zimbabwe, as well as throughout Latin America. Hundreds of birds he collected on these trips remain laid out in drawers at the Field Museum for inspection by future scientists.

He documented differences among birds, often based on geographic distribution, and was the first to classify dozens of the winged creatures. He had six birds and two bird lice named after him.

He also compiled, with Raymond Paynter of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, a series of gazetteers that detail where ornithological research has been done in South America.

"They basically provide blueprints to where people have and haven't been," said John Bates, chairman of the zoology department at the Field Museum.

"His contributions were ornithological collections from around the world and scientific journals describing these collections," Bates said. "These collections form the basis of efforts to understand and preserve these birds."

Mr Traylor grew up in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood and on the North Side. He attended Parker Academy in Chicago and Milton Academy in Milton, Mass.

His father was born in a Kentucky log cabin and went on to become president of the First National Bank of Chicago. In 1932, his name was among those bandied about for the presidential nomination.

Mr, Traylor was often wore khakis, flannel shirts and a bolo tie. He was modest about his accomplishments, and stories often came to light with an offhand comment to a grandchild such as, "Oh, I met Ernest Hemingway one time."

"He was such an interesting mix of a gentleman raised in great privilege and a Marine who went on these rugged and primitive camping trips for months at a time," his stepdaughter said.

Mr. Traylor continued to do research at the Field for many years after his retirement in 1980, and in 2001, with Paynter, was awarded the Elliot Coues Award by the American Ornithologists' Union, one of the highest honors in the field.

Mr. Traylor was divorced from his first wife, Evelyn Shuman, who preceded him in death.
He married the former Marjorie Sharp in 1970; she died in 2006.

Mr. Traylor is also survived by a daughter, Nancy T. Tessmer; stepsons Richard W. Sharp Jr. and Daniel W. Sharp; another stepdaughter, Lucy S. Malone; nine grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

A memorial service is set for 2 p.m. Sunday in First Congregational Church of Wilmette, 1125 Wilmette Ave..
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**he is noted in Wikipedia
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