Donors

Bob Collins, Mike & Karen Yates

Erich Awender

Devoted Husband and Father, Medical

Doctor, Lifelong Falconer, and True

Gentleman

Erich Awender, M.D., and his lovely wife Heidi

immigrated to the United States from Austria in

the early 1950’s. Prior to Erich’s arrival in the

US, Erich’s father wrote to Corny McFadden and

asked him to help Erich become established with

his falconry in the US. A fascinating friendship

and correspondence ensued (the details of which

can be found at the Archives of Falconry). Erich

and Heidi loved wildlife. They settled in Freeport,

Illinois where Erich had a successful medical

practice. They built a beautiful home complete

with breeding chambers and a brick hawk house.

Their home was landscaped with trees imported

from Austria. Their yard was the perfect play-

ground for their beloved English Setters. Heidi

always had a Drathair as a house/eld dog. They

brought their setters with them from Europe and

kept that strain of setters going all their lives. All

were beautiful, award winning dogs.

Erich and Heidi bought a farm outside of

Freeport as a base camp for his falconry. They

loved wildlife and the farm was groomed to maxi-

mize wildlife habitat. They had “pet” whitetail doe

which they protected with a blaze orange vest

during hunting season. Erich commissioned a lo-

cal artist to create a ag for the farm which was

own only when a visiting peregrine was being

own on the property.

Erich was a lifelong falconer who was most

generous to his fellow falconers. He was a

strong supporter of the Great Lakes Falconer’s

Association and NAFA. He and Heidi attended

almost all the NAFA meets. Erich’s hawking hat,

with falconry pins from all over the world, was

of interest to all falconers, young and old. Erich

and his good friends Dan Cover, Tom Ennenga,

and Bob Widmeier pioneered hawking on the

great plains of the western US and Canada.

Their annual hawking trips out west were pure

falconry.

Heidi and Erich had one child, Ralph, who tragi-

cally died of a heart attack shortly after Erich’s

death. Ralph was devoted to his father and

took Erich’s death especially hard. Losing both

Erich and their only child within days, Heidi’s

world turned upside down. Later, Heidi would

tell friends and family that “Life is so short, your

loved ones are so precious, one must treasure

every moment.”

During the days of the Peregrine as an endangered species,

Erich commissioned a flag to fly on his farm whenever a

Peregrine was flown.

Feb. 27, 1975

The Awenders: Erich, Heidi and son Ralph.

Freeport, Illinois 1965