Dave Lance Engerbretson
1936 - 2003
Written by his wife, Shirley Engerbretson.
Dave Engerbretson was born in Tracy, Minn., in 1936, where he lived his youth, and graduated from Tracy High School in 1954. Dave started his college career at Macalester College in the fall of 1954. In 1958, following completion of his B.S. degree, he took a job teaching high school subjects in Duluth, Minn. He taught there for one year, and married JoAnn Rae Hanson from Windom, Minn., in 1959. Dave and Jody moved to Illinois to enable him to pursue graduate studies at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. From there, they moved to State College, Pennsylvania, where Dave earned his Ph.D. at Penn State in Exercise Physiology.
He discovered fly fishing on the lakes of Minnesota. As a young man, he learned to tie flies and became a proficient fly tier. While at Penn State, he became a prolific fly tier, tying commercially for the Orvis Company, and causing the sport of fly fishing to turn for him into a lifetime avocation. He built this hobby-turned-livelihood into enough income to support his young family, which now included two young sons, Eric and Jeff, and put himself through his degree.
Dave’s teaching career took him to Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.; Macalester College, St. Paul, Minn.; and Washington State University, Pullman, Wash.; where he had been on the faculty of the Exercise Science program in the Department of Kinesiology and Leisure Studies for 25 years.
Dave and Jody divorced in 1978. In 1981, Dave married Shirley Engerbretson, whom he met in Moscow, Idaho, and who had been a family friend for nearly ten years. Shirley’s children, Don and Jennifer, were accepted into Dave’s family warmly and the blended families spent many happy times together.
Dave was active in many aspects of fly fishing from 1960 throughout the rest of his life. In addition to his work in Exercise Science, he taught a popular course in fly fishing in the Physical Education Activity Program at WSU for 22 years, and directed his own fly fishing school in Montana from 1984 to ’89.
Dave had avidly read fishing magazines for many years and decided to try his hand at writing fishing-related articles. He wrote his first article for Fly Fisherman Magazine in 1971. He was an active outdoor writer and photographer, and for over nearly thirty years, served as contributing editor, West Coast Field Editor, Rocky Mountain Field Editor, Western Field Editor and, finally, Western Editor for Fly Fisherman Magazine. He also was a contributing editor to Backpacking Journal, Camping Journal, The Angling Report, and Tackle Test magazines, as well as a contributing editor to Lefty’s World and the Virtual Fly Shop, electronic magazines on the World Wide Web.
Dave’s writing and photography appeared in fly-fishing books, calendars, catalogs and magazines around the world, and he was an award-winning member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) and the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association (NOWA). In addition to his fly fishing book, Tight Lines, Bright Water, he authored A Programmed Instruction Manual: The Human Muscle System, and a Laboratory Manual for Human Anatomy. He was host of the series, Fly Tying: The Angler’s Art,which has appeared on approximately 150 PBS stations around the United States.
Over the course of his life, Dave was an equipment designer, consultant and field tester for a number of tackle companies, and built split bamboo fly rods in his own workshop. In addition, he had been a fly fishing guide, a backpacking and canoeing guide, and a downhill and cross-country ski instructor.
Dave had been a victim of diabetes from the age of 25. He struggled mightily against the disease, and his doctoral thesis was entitled, “The Diabetic and Exercise.” He will be remembered fondly in academic, fishing and personal circles in which he was involved.
On a personal note, I am sure Dave is “up there” looking down and wishing he could be with you all as you celebrate your reunion. He often recalled with great affection the friends he made at Macalester, both as a student and a faculty member. He was so grateful for what Macalaster had given him, both personally and in his career. Speaking for Dave, I wish you all the best in your lives.