I always enjoyed the zoo, but it was not something that I thought of as a profession, I guess at that time. I always enjoyed animals. You know, I would collect turtles or various reptiles that we could catch at the park. Had a little squirrel for a while, whatever,… Read More
So when did you first start to think about working as a, not necessarily at the zoo, but working as a veterinarian and going to school to do that as opposed to becoming a priest or going to the seminary?… Read More
Well, once I left the seminary, when I decided I didn’t want to do that, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I went to the University of Missouri, and I moved around a little bit. I was interested in forestry, I was interested in conservation, I was… Read More
Well, we tried to see everything there was to see. There was not necessarily one that was more attractive to me than the others. At that time, the zoo had a three animal shows. We had a chimpanzee show, an elephant show, and a lion or big cat show. And… Read More
Or how did that switch from being and wanting to go into the seminary, when did that take second to something else that you were thinking about?… Read More
Do you think going to the zoo as you did, drew you to what you have spent your life doing?… Read More
I mean, you mentioned that you were gonna go to the seminary, but what are your earliest memories of zoos?… Read More
And were there any animals that you were drawn to that were favorites of yours, as you recollect, or just, it was an enjoyable day?… Read More
We always went to the zoo, St. Louis Zoo, at least twice a year. My parents didn’t even own a car. We would get on the bus and ride to the zoo. At that time, the zoo’s in Forest Park. We would get off the bus with our jug of… Read More
What did your parents do?… Read More
My father was a painter, he worked for Monsanto Chemical Company, painted buildings and pipes and so forth in the chemical plant, and my mother was a homemaker. And you mentioned the zoo. Read More
Well, I grew up in South St. Louis, was a middle class family, probably lower middle class, in terms of wealth or whatever. But very close community, very much involved in the church and school, Catholic community. There was, almost all the people on the block were Catholic. We lived,… Read More
And what was your childhood like growing up?… Read More
I’m Bill Boever, or William Joseph Boever, born in St. Louis, December 27th, 1944. Read More
I have seven kids, which is phenomenal. And I would like to be remembered as a great mom and a great grandma. Okay, thank you, Dr. Barbara Baker. (Barbara laughs) Thank you. Read More
Your legacy?… Read More
My legacy?… Read More
How would you like to be remembered?… Read More
It’s just phenomenal. Read More
I mean, it’s just, there’s so many things. I can’t even begin to express how much fun I had. To have clouded leopards over Christmas. You’re taking care of clouded leopard cubs over Christmas, and bottle feeding ’em, and all the kids are there, and they’re inviting their friends over… Read More