Keystone Science School is honored to announce an important bequest to the Endowment Fund from a truly remarkable couple, Patricia (Patti) and Joel Meier. Patti and Joel’s Endowment bequest in honor of Bill and Jane Berman, cofounders of Keystone Resort, will benefit Keystone Science School’s Campership program, ensuring that deserving children are able to have a KSS Camp experience for generations to come.
The Meiers have dedicated their lives and legacy to outdoor recreation, conservation, and education. Avid adventurists, Patti and Joel have set foot on all seven continents as mountaineers as well as whitewater and ocean kayakers who have undertaken expeditions from Nepal to Greenland and Russia to Belize. They’ve even motorcycled throughout North, Central and South America as well as New Zealand, Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and the Italian Alps.
But Patti and Joel’s commitment to the natural world doesn’t stop with their own adventures.
Patti has spent her career in dental hygiene working hard to ensure access to care as well as prevention of disease and health education. She devoted 40 years of her life to consulting with Head Start, Migrant Programs, and the Indian Health Service, providing training and technical assistance under the American Indians Program Branch Interagency Agreement. Patti also spent many years as a ski instructor in Montana as well as locally for Vail Resorts at Beaver Creek and Keystone.
Joel devoted his career to environmental education. At The University of Montana, Dr. Meier was Professor and Coordinator of the Recreation Management Degree Program and also served as Associate Dean of the College of Forestry and Conservation from 1970 to 1994. At Indiana University he served from 1994 to 2007 as Professor and Chair of the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies. But what really connects Joel to KSS might have been his time as an Outward Bound Training Officer for the Peace Corps in Puerto Rico.
Patti and Joel are active environmentalists and philanthropists. They have endowed academic chair positions at both Indiana University and The University of Montana.
The Patricia and Joel Meier Legacy:
- The Patricia and Joel Meier Outdoor Leadership Chair, Indiana University School of Public Health
- The Patricia and Joel Meier Chair of Education, Indiana University Art Museum
- The Patricia and Joel Meier Wildland Recreation Management Chair, College of Forestry and Conservation, The University of Montana
- The Patricia and Joel Meier Scholarship Fund, National Outdoor Leadership School
- The Dr. Joel Meier Scholarship Fund, Montana Trails, Recreation and Park Association
- The Patricia and Joel Meier Endowed Campership Fund in Honor of Bill and Jane Bergman at Keystone Science School
Like Patti and Joel, you have the opportunity to shape the future by including a gift to benefit KSS in your will or estate plans. Gifts through wills are easy and have tax benefits. To learn more about planned giving, please contact Mike Pasquarella, Development & Events Manager.
