Date of Birth: March 5, 1912
Place of Birth: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Date of Death: November 4, 1958
Place of Death: San Francisco, California
Cecil Tose was a tall, quiet, and unassuming man. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on March 5, 1912. He died on November 4, 1958, in California, while he was Curator of the Department of Exhibits in the California Academy of Sciences. While growing up, his father, Frank Tose, moved the family to San Francisco when he became a staff member at the California Academy of Sciences. This happened in 1924 and Cecil grew up around the academy and became a student assistant at the age of 12. Cecil not only learned taxidermy and museum work from his dad, he also trained in the James Clark Studios in New York City.
Working closely with his father, Cecil helped on the first area of the Simpson African Hall’s 24 dioramas. The leopard he mounted was in the only pictured natural history diorama in the three volume work, The Museum in America, written by Laurence Vail Coleman. After the end of World War II, and his father’s death in 1944, Cecil was rightfully appointed head of the Exhibit Department at the Academy. He proved to be a brilliant exhibit designer and lead the displays through modernization and educational heights. At the time of his tragic death due to cancer at age 46 in 1958, we was survived by his wife, Emma, daughter, Christine and son, Frank.
