Gene Drecktrah and Anne Drecktrah

Gene and Anne Drecktrah are siblings who grew up in West Salem, WI. Their family has long-held ties to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and are proud to be able to support students in academic fields of study that influenced the entire family.

Elizabeth Anne Drecktrah graduated from UWL in 1971 with degrees in theatre and history. In 1979 she moved to Los Angeles and spent 24 years working in film and TV, starting as a production assistant and ending as a producer, mostly of television documentaries. Anne has worked for the Discovery Channel and the History Channel, among others. She was assistant producer for three
episodes for the PBS series Nova and worked on three iterations of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. Anne directed at least one play a year in Los Angeles at various theaters. Other venues include the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, the Aegean Institute in Greece, UMass-Amherst, Penn State, High Mowing School, NH, and the Albuquerque Civic Light Opera.

Anne returned to the La Crosse area in 2003 and has been active in local theater, directing at UWL, Viterbo, The La Crosse Community theater and the Pump House. In 2022, she was honored by the Pump House as the recipient of the Patron Recognition Award.

Gene Drecktrah graduated from Wisconsin State College La Crosse in 1962 with a major in biology. He continued his education at Iowa State University earning a master’s and PhD in entomology. In 1966 he joined the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh biology faculty with primary responsibilities in teaching introductory biology, biology of animals and entomology. He spent 1980 on sabbatical leave at the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia studying caddisflies. In addition, he collected more than 8.000 specimens of various insects which were contributed to the university’s insect collection.

Drecktrah also served nine years (1985-1994) as the associate dean of the math/science division, College of Letters and Science and as co-chair of the biology department from 1997 until his retirement in 2002 as professor emeritus of biology. After retirement he taught part-time three classes and continued research projects and curatorial work on the university’s insect collection (approximately 200,000 specimens), the majority of which he and his students collected.

Gene’s wife, Mary, also graduated from Wisconsin State College La Crosse (1960) with a major in elementary education. She continued her education at Iowa State University earning a master’s degree in guidance and counseling, at UW Oshkosh earning a master’s degree in special education and a PhD in education admission from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1998. She held
teaching and/or administrative positions in West Allis, WI., Ames, IA., Oshkosh, Winneconne, and Ripon before joining the faculty at UW Oshkosh in the special education department in 1994. She passed away shortly after retiring in 2002.

Ella Drecktrah, the mother of Gene and Anne, earned a degree in rural education at La Crosse State Teacher’s College in 1928. She taught for three years in rural schools of La Crosse County.