Glen Dawson, longest-tenured Sierra Club Life Member, former Sierra Club Board member and legendary mountaineer, has died
The Angeles Chapter has learned that Glen Dawson died overnight at the Villa Gardens retirement community where he resided.
Glen was born on 6/3/1912 into a storied Sierra Club family. His father, Ernest Dawson, served on the Sierra Club Board of Directors (1922-37) and was elected Sierra Club President (1935-37). With their father's encouragement, Glen and his brother, Muir, became active in the Sierra Club 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 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, 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 (1931).
From 1932 to 1935 he 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.
More information about a memorial service will be posted once it is scheduled.
Glen Dawson practiced the art of stump climbing at a tender age, as shown here on a 1926 Chapter outing to Camp Seely. -Photo courtesy of Glen Dawson, Angeles Chapter Archives
Glen Dawson is shown here on the summit of Mt. Whitney with other members of the party that made the first ascent of the east face in 1931. L. to r: Dawson, Robert Underhill, Jules Eichorn, Norman Clyde
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