101 candles
Maynard Fosberg was surprised at his birthday celebration with photos of his life’s work and family members.
MADISON HARDY/Press
Local man celebrates milestone birthday
Maynard Fosberg has lived a full 101 years on this earth.
Born on July 7, 1919, in Turlock, Calif., Fosberg lived through the Great Depression, World War II, and the turn of the millennium.
Joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939, Fosberg served as a camera gunman capturing World War II events firsthand.
Having previous experience in photography, military leadership recognized his talents and he was asked to stay stateside documenting speeches and historic milestones. Fosberg was stationed in Thomasville, Ga., where he met his wife, Margaret, who worked as an Army nurse. Together they raised their two children, Stephanie and Mark, and plentiful grandchildren.
After the war ended in 1945, Fosberg received his bachelor’s, master’s, and later a Ph.D. in soil genesis from the University of Wisconsin. In 1949, Fosberg accepted a three-year associate professor’s position with the University of Idaho that turned into a 40-year career. He and his wife bought a property in then-rural Moscow in 1950 that Fosberg still calls home today.
One of his passions in life includes the re-establishment of natural prairie land with the Latah Soil and Water Conservation District. Since moving to Moscow, Fosberg has attempted to successfully restore several plots of land including a 2-acre section of his Moscow property. Starting from a humble farm, Fosberg transformed his home into a horse farm and eventually nature preserve.
Before retiring in 1996, Fosberg made his legacy in national soil studies. Possessing one of the largest private collections of soil monoliths in the world, Fosberg’s soil research is now viewed in international museums. Beginning his research in the late 1940s, the Maynard A. Fosberg Monolith Collection holds more than 230 soil samples from around the state of Idaho, the Pacific Northwest, and the United States.
“This is his living memory, what he’s really famous for,” Fosberg’s son, Mark, said Tuesday, at a party for Maynard at the Lacrosse Health & Rehabilitation Center in Coeur d’Alene. “There is even a world monolith museum in Denmark and he’s got several soil samples that they’ve actually shipped there.”
Fosberg was not simply grounded in soil research but routed in many parts of the community. This includes starting FFA soil classification competitions, working with 4-H land judging contests for 18 years, cataloging land throughout southern Idaho, serving as Rotary Club of Moscow’s 50th president, and riding horses along the Chief Joseph Trail well into his 80s.
“He’s just a humble man, never drew attention to himself and always tried to deflect it to somebody else, but he’s very famous in the soil world,” Mark Fosberg said. “When he reflects on his service and his life it isn’t the accomplishments he’s done, but the people he’s met along the way.”