John Tee-Van was an American ichthyologist and zoologist.
12 Facts About John Tee-Van
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John Tee-Van began his career as an apprentice zookeeper at the New York Zoological Park and ended it as its General Director.
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John Tee-Van began his career at the Bronx Zoo in 1911, at the age of 14, as an apprentice keeper in the Bird Department, joining the zoo after the death of his father, who had been an employee of the zoo.
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Tee-Van left his position in the Bird Department in 1917 after Department Curator William Beebe heard that Tee-Van took night classes in architectural drafting and asked him to draw a bird bone.
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Beebe was so impressed with John Tee-Van's drawing that he immediately made him an assistant in his new department.
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The organization promised the pandas to the Bronx Zoo, which sent John Tee-Van to bring them back from China.
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John Tee-Van left on September 25,1941, on a journey to Chengdu, in southwest China.
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John Tee-Van documented his entire journey to China in journals and photographs, and he saved many mementos such as invitations, newspaper clippings, personal letters, and boarding passes.
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Apart from William Beebe, John Tee-Van was the only member of staff to ever achieve 50 years of active service at that time.
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John Tee-Van continued on at the zoo after his retirement, returning to the Department of Tropical Research to continue his work on fishes.
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John Tee-Van married Helen Damrosch on July 17,1923; they had no children.
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John Tee-Van had a stroke in early 1966 which left him partially paralyzed, and he died at his home in Sherman, Connecticut on November 5,1967.