Nelle Elizabeth Tobias
Born: May 11, 1906
Died: April 30, 2005
Nelle Tobias was a
petite, sandy-haired woman with birdlike bones, enormous blue eyes and
a shy smile. From 1951 until just before her death in 2005, Nelle lived
alone in a cabin of her own design, on a piece of land that overlooked
the rich green meadows of Long Valley to the west and nearby Jug Mountain
to the east. She lived a life of voluntary simplicity during which she
gave anonymous donations of money and generous amounts of time. She
spent her life doing whatever she felt was necessary to support and
protect the natural world and its inhabitants, whether it was writing
letters, speaking out at public meetings or helping send out an
organization’s bulk mail.
Nelle’s causes included
protection of the art of indigenous people, rights of women and
minorities, and conservation of the natural world and its
inhabitants. Beneficiaries of her generosity include Long Valley
Preservation Council, Idaho Conservation League, Natural Resources
Defense Council, the Wilderness Society, the Snake River Alliance,
Planned Parenthood of Idaho, McCall Community Congregational Church,
American Friends Service Committee, Advocates for the West (The LAW
Fund), Snowdon Wildlife Sanctuary and McPaws Regional Animal Shelter,
among others. She left almost her entire estate - in excess of $1
million - to 20 nonprofit organizations, including these.
Nelle had no children. She
bestowed on the birds that came to her feeders, the dogs she adopted,
the plants in her garden, the indigenous peoples whose rock art she
studied, and a myriad of wild places, all the love a mother showers on
her offspring. In her words,
“I am neither flag-waver nor fighter, but I love our country.
I love our land as if it were a personality.
When I see it being violated,
I feel pain, as if it were happening to a loved one.”
| "We're all in this together." |
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