Joseph Jay Nyhoff

Articles he wrote and articles written about him. Compiled by Red.

1962

When we got married on September 8, 1962, I was working at Quaker Oats ​in the Merchandise Mart as a literature chemist, and Jay was working at ​Lincoln Park Zoo, a summer job. Just after we got married. We purchased ​Ace Pet Shop on Stony Island in Chicago. I continue to work at Quaker Oats ​and Jay ran the pet shop.

We were living in his aunt Eileen's house because she was in Japan living ​with her daughter Dolores Delores's husband who was in the navy and ​stationed in Japan. So, Eileen's house was empty, and we could stay there ​rent free. Eileen's neighbor across the street would come and get her mail ​and snoop on us when we were at work. One day I was sick and stayed ​home from work and was on the living room couch when the neighbor ​from across the street came into snoop. That was the last straw, so we ​bought a trailer and moved to Island Park trailer court in Hegewisch, ​leaving Eileen's house empty again.

I got pregnant with Pam and the policy at Quaker Oats was females cannot ​work beyond their third month. It took a month to find a replacement, but ​then I was out of a job, so I took over the pet shop. Pam was born while I ​ran the store, and we had a crib in the back of the store. Katherine came ​over almost every day and took Pam for a ride in her buggy. Jay went ​through a series of jobs to try and make enough for us to live on. He worked ​eight months at Brookfield Zoo, four months at Hines Hospital, two days ​for a landscaper and then back to Lincoln Park again full-time, sometimes ​night shift. That was when he worked at the farm at the zoo.

Here is an article in the Chicago ​Tribune, where he is feeding a ​giraffe.

At the same time, he was also ​working on his degree. When we ​got married, he was a semester ​short of graduating, and had been ​kicked out of Northern due to poor ​grades. Katherine and Marie were ​related to the registrar at Chicago ​Teachers College and convinced ​Jay to apply there. Their cousin, the ​Register, took his application and ​buried it under some other papers ​until his first report card. Then she ​went to the administration and said ​he failed at Northern but he's doing ​much better now, so they let him in ​on probation. Jay used to say you ​can bring an F home to your father, ​but not to your wife. It took nine ​different institutions, TV courses ​night courses, etc, but he graduated ​from Chicago Teachers’ College in ​1967.

One of the requirements to graduate ​was student teaching. At this time, I ​had Pam and Colleen and Cathy was ​staying with us. Since Jay couldn't ​work when he was student teaching, I ​got a job teaching 7th grade half day at ​Holy Ghost school in South Holland. ​Thank goodness they didn't have a ​policy about pregnant women working ​because I got pregnant with Kevin ​during that time. Jay graduated from ​Chicago Teachers College and told ​Lincoln Park Zoo he now had a degree, ​so he wanted to be a zookeeper. They ​said they didn't have an opening at the ​time, so he took a job at Sand Ridge ​Nature Center in Cook County as ​assistant director. Here is an article ​where he's accepting a check for the ​planting of wildflowers at Sand Ridge ​Nature Center.

I was pregnant with Kevin when we had that storm in ‘67 that kept us from ​going to work about four days. Dad was stuck at San Ridge and had to walk ​home to Island Park trailer court. The blizzard of 1967 struck on January ​26 through the 27th of 1967 with a record setting 23 inches snowfall in ​Chicago and the suburbs before the storm abated the next morning. As of ​2022, it remains the greatest snowfall in one storm in Chicago's history as ​it was it was a surprise during the day with people already at work or ​school. It stopped the city for a few days as people dug out. A full-blown ​blizzard with 50 mph plus northeast wind gust, it created drifts as high as ​15 feet.

Since he had a teaching degree, he applied for a job at the junior high in ​South Holland and taught for one year. Since he knew he would have the ​summer off he applied for a summer job with the department of ​conservation. Toward the end of his year of teaching the department of ​conservation called him and said they had an opening at Illinois Beach full ​time as a naturalist. He went and interviewed for the job, and they said ​they wanted him to start right then. He said he still had two weeks left to ​teach and they said, well just work on the weekend for the next two weeks. ​There was a female PhD. applying for the job as a naturalist and the site ​superintendent did not want her to get the job, so they needed to fill it ​pronto with somebody he did want. They were even willing to set up our ​trailer on the beach behind the shop. That took 6 weeks, so we lived in a ​tent in the campground for 6 weeks with 3 kids under 6 till the pad was ​ready. Jay became an employee of the state of Illinois and worked at ​Illinois Beach State Park from about June of ‘68 until Christmas of ’70.

Amy was born during this time. He converted a garage into a nature center. ​One of displays he created was a beehive inside the center.

Here is an article he wrote about the beehive.

Another display had tanks with native fish. Here an article he wrote about ​the fish.

There was a turtle pond outside and cages with foxes and raccoons. Here is ​an article he wrote for the Waukegan News Sun about the nature center ​with pictures of Colleen and Kevin. Pam was at school and I was in the ​hospital giving birth to our daughter Amelia.

At Illinois Beach State park he got to know and became friends with Joe ​Manning, a reporter for the Waukegan News Sun. Here is an article about a ​trip we all took down the flooded Des Plaines river.

He did ​research on the ​surrounding ​areas as well. ​Here is an ​article about ​him at

VOLO Bog.

He got into all kinds of side trips. Here is an article about lie detectors and ​plant feelings.

Here is an article written for the Chicago Motor Club about Illinois ​Beach mentioning tours he conducted.

Another in escape ​reality also talks ​about the tours.

He also wrote weekly articles for the Waukegan News Sun and here is one ​of my favorites, sunrise sunset.

October 9th 1969

It takes one sunrise and one sunset to make a day. When was the last time ​you saw the day begin and end. I don’t mean just being up at sunrise and ​sunset, but actually watching the sun move across the sky.

Living on the west side of the lake Michigan, we have an exceptionally views ​of the sunrise. We could see all of the blood red ball as it slowly emerges ​from behind the horizon. Last Wednesday the sun rose at 6:57 AM. I ​wanted pictures of this event to start a slide collection of Illinois Beach ​State Park. It has been a while since I had gotten up before the sun, but I ​hurriedly dressed in the dark, and went down to the shore to wait for the ​dawn. The transition from night to to day was gradual, and the lights seem ​to dissipate the darkness like a fog. The lake was blue and calm, and the ​waves leaked gently at my feet.

On the horizon was a wall of dark cumulus clouds. High in the sky, worse ​stratus clouds, and in between the two layers of the sky was clear the rose ​color of the sun first broke through a small chunk in the wall, then, as the ​sun rose higher. The patch of clear sky kept changing colors until it became ​a light blue. It was cold morning and the upper 40s and there was a chilly ​breeze but I sat there for an hour, watching the and taking pictures.

The fitting way to and today was by taking pictures of the sunset, so I sat ​off to the top of the toboggan slide to do just that. This time I took Pam six ​and Colleen four with me. Pam was afraid to climb the steps, but when she ​saw Colleen a top, eating an apple and enjoying herself up, she went the ​view from the top of the toboggan slide was an equally rewarding one. The ​Rosie glow pervaded the sky. It was even reflected in the lake. We ​commanded quite a view of the lake, and we could see several rafts of ​ducks, somewhere coots, but other others were too far away to identify. A ​pair of wood ducks flew overhead as darkness approached. The air grew ​cold, so we headed home. It had been a perfect day.

Here is an article ​about bike riding ​with Pam.

On the next page is one ​from July 6, 1968 for ​the Waukegan Sun. The ​article talks about the ​success of the ​educational program ​Jay introduced, and the ​fact that he's now ​writing articles about ​the park for the News ​Sun weekend life.

Here is an article where he talks about preserving the natural area.

An opening at Mississippi Pallisades State Park for a naturalist dealing ​with Hill prairie arose, so he transferred to Mississippi Pallisades State ​Park where he worked for 14 months Here is his farewell article for the ​Waukegan News Sun.

We moved our trailer to Savanna and it changed from a trailer overlooking ​Lake Michigan to one overlooking the mighty Mississippi river. We only ​stayed at the Pallisades 14 months, But during that time he converted a ​one room school house into a nature center got an assistant, Susie Wright, ​wrote articles for the Savanna Times Journal, presented programs and ​participated in the first earth day at a local college. Here are copies of ​postcards, showing the scenery in and around Savanna.

Here is an article ​about the Eagles. We ​could see them from ​our living room ​window.

Here's an article about Jay and Suzie giving a presentation.

The staff at the Pallisades was a wonderful group. On our second ​Christmas we had a party, and here is Jay talking about making ​decorations.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. What do you do at Christmas time? ​Do you have your own family traditions? Christmas is a time for giving of ​yourself. It is also one of the best times for family activities. A time to do ​things together. We always decorated our tree with handmade ornaments. ​We have a tree trimming party, and the guest can’t leave until they make an ​ornament for our tree. This year we are going as a family to cut down our ​tree from a local tree farm. We have decorated the nature center to remind ​you that we are still here Tuesday through Sunday. The center is open all ​year round. If you stop by you will notice our outside trees. They are ​decorated for the birds. The ornaments are balls of suet set in cupcake ​paper and there is popcorn and cereal, strung for the birds to eat. You might ​want to try something like this yourself in your own yard. The birds will ​certainly appreciate your Christmas spirit especially with the weather like ​this.

It was at the Pallisades that Colleen was stung by dozens of yellow jackets ​and spent the next two years getting desensitized.

About this time, Goose Lake Prairie was discovered, and people were ​petitioning the state to buy the land and create a State Park. Among those ​suggesting this was Jay. He got his first disciplinary action for writing to ​Director Lodge, the Director of the Illinois Department of Conservation ​and telling him to buy Goose Lake Prairie " I was told point-blank that I ​should not have done that. That a person in my low stature should not ​have talked to Director Lodge.” Eventually, the land was purchased, and ​Jay got the job as ranger.

This was the largest contiguous tall grass prairie in the nation. We brought ​the trailer over and set it up where the old playground is now. We moved ​to Morris in 1971. After several weeks we moved into the Miller house and ​sold the trailer. An over 100-year-old farm house with lead paint on the ​porch, asbestos in the basement, rats in the ceiling, but 5 bedrooms and a ​4000 acre back yard. For a week we tended to all sit together. It was an ​adjustment having that much space. Jay rose from naturalist to ranger I, ​then ranger II, and finally to superintendent. Here’s a copy of his business ​card on the next page.

He started writing Nyhoff's nature notes for the Morris paper. Here are ​copies of some of those articles.

GLPrStPK 02.75

The holiday season is almost upon us. It begins with the most American of all ​holidays, Thanksgiving. I’d like to make a list of things which I am thankful ​with a few exceptions. I think it will be applicable to all of us. See if you agree. ​I am thankful for the fine weather we had this summer and fall. I enjoyed the ​instant replay of Indian Summer, and I am thankful that this warm fall ​weather allow us to save precious fuel oil and natural gas, a nonrenewable ​resource. I am thankful for beautiful growing seasons that let our farmers ​harvest a bountiful crop. I am thankful for beautiful fall colors and the site ​and sounds of the geese and ducks. They have stopped here on their way ​south. I am thankful for good health that allows me to enjoy these gifts to the ​fullest. I am thankful for a good year and for living in the great USA. We all ​have many personal items we are thankful for. We should all make a list and ​thank the Lord at least on this one day.

GLPrStPK 03.75

We built a greenhouse, this winter, my wife and I. It’s made from two by twos ​and plastic, and built in sections. It took several days to build. We put it up in ​the beginning of March. It took two hours to put up, but it took all of the ​family, including the children to help assemble it this week. It has already ​begun to show it’s worth. Several of our native prairie plants I planted last ​week have germinated. The greenhouse is an A-frame 12 foot long by 12 foot ​wide and 8 foot high at the highest point. I have 96 square foot of floor space ​to work with. Steve Helen and I made flats. Steve put in all the pots. My wife, ​a volunteer and I planted all the seeds. I’m growing these native plants for ​two reasons. The first is so I can learn to recognize the native grasses when ​they are growing and the second reason is to use them for planting in the ​parking lot islands. The native flowers are going to be used in the restoration ​when they are just several days old. Each grass is different. A shoot of big ​bluestem is coming up. It is relatively thin and dark green. A new Canadian ​wild ride is coming up. It is slender and a light green in color. I never knew ​this before. I have a great sense of discovery. I will keep you informed as to ​what comes up and how it does.

I have just come back from vacation. I went west. I saw a desert. I saw the ​High Plains. I saw a desolation. I saw the land over grazed and eroded. I ​saw thin, weak soil. I saw areas where farmers had to irrigate to get a crop. I ​became home sick for the rich, fertile soil of Illinois. Oh, how I wanted to ​see the tall rows of corn side-by-side with fields of soybeans. I realize how ​rich and fertile are state is, and how we, United States, and the world, ​depend on Illinois for our substance, no more will I ever be bored by corn ​or soy beans. I will not feel sorry for myself, because Illinois is flat. The ​mountains may be majestic and the hills add relief to the landscape, but the ​Prairie lands have a beautiful uniquely of their own. I remember that 70% ​of Illinois was tallgrass prairies. Most of the prairie is gone, but she’s left us ​a great legacy. We must protect the soil that feeds us.

GLPrStPK 04.75

On Wednesday, April 23, my wife, Dorothy is returning from Coal City, ​where she has substitute taught a second grade class. They had a movie ​about a turtle. They cross the dangerous highways, so when she saw this ​rather large turtle crossing Pine Bluff, she decided to park the car and catch ​him, in order to identify and release him farther away from the highway. He ​was a Blanding's turtle and a beauty about 9 1/2 inches long and 6 inches ​wide. At the top of his upper shell is black with small yellow lines and the ​same for the top of his head and neck. The other part of his neck is a ​brilliant yellow. His bottom shell is light yellow with 16 black spots on the ​outside of each plat. Originally the Blanding's turtle was abundant on the ​extensive marshes of Illinois Prairie. The drain of the marshes severely ​limited their habitat, and they are now found in the northern half of the ​state only along the river, margins and floodplains. The Blanding’s turtle is ​a box turtle. In other words, they have a hinge on their lower shell, and ​close themselves in, in case of danger. They have the least effective hinge ​closing of all, turtles of Northern America. The Blanding’s has reportedly ​both the land and water. It seems to be larger aquatic. In fact, it has web ​feet, which indicates both land and water for me. Good morning.

He started developing leg cramps. ​There's an article about his stent ​replacements.

He remained at Goose Lake for 34 years. During those 34 years, he created ​trails, restored the Craig cabin, constructed the floating bridge, oversaw the ​building of the nature center, restored Prairie to a lot of the surrounding ​areas, conducted regular controlled burns of the Prairie to stimulate growth ​of grasses and forbs, assisted people with research, constructed a butterfly ​barn, had YCC programs, and much more.

Here are two articles ​about retirement, one ​with grandson Ellery.

After retirement, he returned for the opening of the mural at the nature center. ​Here is an article about that.

After he retired, he was asked to write an article for the tall grass prairie, and he ​listed changes that had occurred over 34 years at Goose Lake.

In one of the articles, he talks about after retirement, ​building dioramas, and maybe writing a book.

So, here's your book pa.