By George Watland, Sr. Angeles Chapter Director
Glen Dawson, the longest-tenured Sierra Club life member, former Sierra Club Board member, and legendary mountaineer, died at the Villa Gardens retirement community in Pasadena, California, on March 22. He was 103 years old.
Above, Dawson at Azusa Pacific University in 2009, receiving his honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.
Glen was born on June 3, 1912, into a storied Sierra Club family. His father, Ernest Dawson, served on the Club's Board of Directors from 1922-37 and served as Sierra Club president from 1935-37. With their father's encouragement, Glen and his brother, Muir, became active in the Club's Angeles Chapter at a young age. Glen went on to also serve on the Sierra Club Board of Directors between 1937 and 1951.
Glen received a life membership in the Sierra Club from Aurelia Harwood, the Sierra Club's first female president, in 1921 (Life Membership #14, making him the longest-tenured Life Member). A founding member of both the Ski Mountaineers Section and Rock Climbing Section of the Angeles Chapter, he was the leading Southern California rock climber of the 1930s. He participated in many important first ascents of a technical nature, including the East Face of Mt. Whitney in 1931.
Glen Dawson at Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, in 1930. Photo by Ansel Adams.
From 1932 to 1935 Glen was on the UCLA Ski Team and participated in ski tours with Walter Mosauer and Louis Turner. He served in the Tenth Mountain Division during World War II.
His mountaineering exploits were recognized by the Club with its bestowal of the Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award upon Dawson in 1973. Glen and his brother Muir culminated their service to the chapter by putting on the program for the 2000 Chapter Awards Banquet.
Read more about Dawson's climbing exploits in this article from the climbing magazine Gripped, and this article, The climb of his life, from the Los Angeles Times.
Click here to see photographs of Glen during his climbing years and beyond.
Glen Dawson on summit pinnacle of Fountain Peak, Providence Mountains, California, in 1938.
More information about a memorial service will be posted once it is scheduled.