Untermann, Gerhard Ernest, 1898-1975.

Gerhard Ernest Untermann was born on 6 August 1898, while his parents were in Berlin, Germany, on a visit. Nine months later the family returned to the United States. G. Ernest Untermann's first visit to the Vernal area was in 1919 when he assisted his father, Ernest Untermann, make a mining survey for a Chicago firm. During this visit he met Billie Ruple, a native of Vernal, then thirteen-years-old (she was born 29 July 1906). They remained in contact through the years and were married in San Francisco on 14 August 1925.

G. Ernest Untermann and Billie Ruple graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. G. Ernest received an M.A. from the School of Geology and, later, an honorary doctorate. Billie earned an A.B. in geology in 1929 and an M.A. in 1934. She was curator of the Geology Museum at University of California, Berkeley, between 1931 and 1936.

In the 1940s the Untermanns joined the National Park Service and returned to Vernal to work at Dinosaur National Monument in 1943. G. Ernest spent four years as a ranger-geologist, mapping the monument geology. Billie worked on the mapping with G. Ernest and between 1946 and 1948 was put on the payroll as a ranger-naturalist.

The Utah Field House of Natural History was completed in 1946. G. Ernest Untermann, who had been a strong supporter of the project from the beginning, was hired as director-curator. Billie joined him there in 1948 as staff scientist. They spent the following twenty-one years promoting and caring for the Field House. When they formally retired in 1969, Billie was rehired and G. Ernest continued to devote hours to the Field House without pay until 1974. Billie was voted "Outstanding State Employee" in 1972 for her work at the museum.

Billie died 30 January 1973 and G. Ernest died 12 November 1975. Both were honorary, lifetime members of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontologists and members of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. G. Ernest Untermann was briefly written up in Who's Who in the West (12th Edition, 1970-71), and Billie appeared in Who's Who of American Women (2nd Edition, 1961-62).

As coauthors they published Geology of Dinosaur National Monument, 1969; Dinosaur Land and the Unique Uinta Country, 1972, and other geological studies. They also wrote, separately and jointly, innumerable articles for the local newspaper, the Vernal Express, and articles for professional journals.

From the guide to the G. Ernest Untermann papers, 1936-1975, (J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah)