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"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, To the campers, staff, and friends of Bay Cliff who have passed on, we remember you... |
Goldie Corneliuson
Born
July 17, 1901
Deceased
November 17, 1994
Dr. Goldie was co-founder and first Executive Director of Bay Cliff Health Camp. She, along with Elba Morse, R.N., founded Bay Cliff in 1933. Dr. Goldie served as the camp director from 1933 to 1938. Dr. Goldie spent most of her professional life as a physician for Public Health. In 1933 she accepted a position for the Children’s Fund of Michigan. As field physician for the Fund (which helped to organize a network of public health departments), Dr. Goldie traveled the state, with extended periods in the Upper Peninsula. During this time of the Great Depression, Dr. Goldie saw the needs of children who were malnourished and suffering from medical conditions attributed to lack of good nutrition. She dreamed of a place where children of the Upper Peninsula could find the opportunity to eat and sleep well, play and grow strong in the summer sunlight and refreshing air of Lake Superior. Bay Cliff was born of this dream. The 1963 Bay Cliff Yearbook was dedicated to Dr. Goldie.
Bay Cliff Founder Dies
A memorial service will be held in Florida Monday for Goldie Corneliuson, co-founder and first director of Bay Cliff Health Camp. Dr. Corneliuson, 93, died Nov. 17, 1994 at Heartland Health Care Center in Fort Meyers, Florida.
“Dr. Goldie was a pioneer in Michigan public health services and a true friend of children,” said camp director Tim Bennett. “She brought the dream of Bay Cliff to reality and remained an integral part of the camp for more than 30 years. Her work and presence at camp touched the lives of many people.”
The original aim of camp was to give 10 children from each of the 15 counties of the Upper Peninsula who were malnourished an opportunity to learn the importance of good nutrition, the need for adequate rest, and the value of sanitary habits. Since those early days in 1930s, the camp has grown in the number of campers as well as in the range of illnesses and handicaps treated from diabetes, crippled children, children with heart defects and cerebral palsy.
Dr. Corneliuson was born in Ishpeming on July 17, 1901 to Swedish immigrants. She graduated from Ishpeming High School in 1917 at age 16 and attended what is now Northern Michigan University. She was a Bay Cliff director from 1933 to 1938. She received a doctorate of medicine in 1925 from the University of Michigan School of Medicine. She retired in May 1966, after 33 years of service with the State Department of Health. She was the 20-year director of the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health. “Her distinguished and pioneering career in medicine has brought better health to mothers and children of Michigan,” said then-Gov. George Romney.
After retirement she spent her summers on Drummond Island and her winters in Florida. The memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday at the First Presbyterian Church, 2438 Second St. Fort Meyers, Fl.
The family requests that memorial contributions be sent to the Bay Cliff Health Camp in Big Bay. The camp’s winter address is 310 W. Washington St., Suite 300, Marquette. Correspondence may be sent to Dr. Corneliuson’s niece, Mrs. Corrine Johnson, 1600 Crestwood Drive, Greenville TN 37743.
Published in the Mining Journal in November 1994.
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*The names listed under "Friends of Bay Cliff" are individuals for whom memorials donations have been received by Bay Cliff in the past year. If you have more information about someone listed above or know of a camper or staff member, who has died and is not listed on our memorials page, please e-mail their name and a link to their obituary to baycliff@baycliff.org. |
