The man known as the founder of Woodland Dunes Nature Center in Two Rivers has passed away. Bernard “Bernie” Netzer Brouchoud was 80 when he passed away Wednesday at Aurora Bay Care in Green Bay.
It was 1965 when the Manitowoc resident began catching, banding & releasing birds on what is now Nature Center property. It wasn’t long before Brouchoud, a federally-licensed bird bander, and a small group of interested junior high students were making regular visits to the area on weekends. An organizing committee, headed by Bernie, in 1974 was aimed at preserving approximately 12-hundred acres with future plans to develop a nature center as an educational resource with numerous plant, bird and mammal species located there. Woodland Dunes officially began after the committee formed its board of directors and started a membership drive.
Funeral services for Brouchoud will be held Monday morning at 11:00 at St. Francis Of Assisi Parish on Waldo. A visitation is set for Sunday evening from 4-to-7 at the Pfeffer Funeral Home and again at the church on Monday morning beginning at 9:30.