Dr. Bonnie Eberhardt Bobb
Dear Smith Family, I met Wendell many years ago when I was a Tribal Environmental Director at Yomba in NV. Over a picnic table lunch, I was telling someone we needed money and assistance for a project, and he pverheard and said he had it. Thus began a working relationship and friendship with quite a few conversations. He was instrumental in obtaining the first EPA Tribal water grants and went totally out of his way to see that it happened, going to a Tribe (I forget which one), helping to write the grant and show how to do it, mailing it to himself, jumping on a plane, and receiving it and approving it at EPA. Wow! Without that small act, money for Tribal water programs might have disappeared from the federal budgets. That is the kind of caring that we should all have for each other. And he helped me, giving me ideas for proposals, assisting however he could. He was a blessing. We both had ties to Prairie View University in TX and we discussed that. A very close friend of mine from Penn State where I attended school, had been the Dean of Agriculture there, and we had conversations about our connections there. He always had time to talk and laugh. I can still hear his voice though it’s been a long time. It was an honor to have known him. Blessings to your family for sharing this great man with us. Dr. Bonnie Eberhardt Bobb