The Many-Sided Dr. Kleinsorge.
By R. M. Cooley

"...son of the Middle West, during fifty years of residence in our state, has proudly called himself 'country doctor' and has brought dedicated excellence to his profession. His avocational distinction is recognized wherever the science of floriculture is honored. For almost two decades he served as Member, and President, of the State Board of Higher Education. The splendid physical plant of the State's institutions of higher education is due, in great measure, to the wisdom and imagination of his leadership as Chairman of the Building Committee. As eminent physician, as public servant, as practical geneticist in the culture of Nature's beauties, his career has been an inspiration to his fellow-citizens of Oregon."

So reads the citation awarded to Dr. Rudolph E. Kleinsorge on October 21, 1959, by the University of Oregon, in recognition of a lifetime of diverse service to his fellow men. At the moment I, the writer of this brief account, and you the reader, are specifically concerned with that phase of his activity as a practical geneticist in the culture of Nature's beauties." And the span of time during which the Doctor has grown and worked with iris misses a half-century by only a half-dozen years!
....He was born in Waterloo, Iowa, September 26th, 1883. His earlier education took place at Le Mars and he then attended the University of Iowa where he received his B.A. in 1904 and his degree in medicine in 1908. He was engaged as an instructor in the Medical School at Iowa University from 1904 to 1909. He was a member of Sigma Xi fraternity and of the Honorary Medical Society Omega Alpha.
....In the summer of 1909 he decided to cast his professional future in the West, and so came to the growing lumber town of Silverton, Oregon, to begin his practice as a physician and surgeon. The next year he married Nina Bazley, member of' an English family. Two daughters, Elizabeth and Harriet, subsequently doubled the number in the Kleinsorge household. World War I found him serving as a Second Lieutenant in the Medical Corps. Always intensely interested in the field of education, he served first on local school boards and in 1941 was appointed by the Governor to the State Board of Higher Education. He was President of this body from 1953 to 1959, when he retired from its membership.
The first honorary membership in the University of Oregon Medical School Alumni Association was awarded to Dr. Kleinsorge.
....When he built a new home in 1916 he suggested to Howard Weed, the landscape architect and nurseryman, that some iris be included in the planting scheme. He had admired the flowers in the nursery and the Weeds had one of the finest iris collections of that era. A lone survivor of that original planting, PRINCESS BEATRICE, still stands in the original spot. So began the long cycle of blends, browns and yellows which today are to be found in catalogs and gardens around the world-wherever bearded fins are known and grown.
....His first purchases included such rarities as the then new DOMINION strain- -CARDINAL, BRUNO, TITAN, etc., and the French imports which included AMBASSADEUR, MME. GAUDICHAU, CECIL BOUSCANT and others. He was meticulous in the choice of his selections, dividing his purchases among such leading dealers of the time as Franklin Mead, Lee Bonnewitz, E. B. Williamson, Carl Salbach, Mrs. Pattison, and F. X. Schreiner.
....First crosses were made in 1925 and the first introduction was a velvety, plum colored seedling of AMBASSADEUR X TITAN. It was named KLAMATH, after an Oregon Indian tribe. He was one of the first to succeed in making a cress on the hybrid WILLIAM MOHR, his seedling ORMOHR missing the Dykes Medal because "hybrids" were not eligible for the award at that time. This kind of jinx again blocked his path to the Dykes in 1946 when his DAYBREAK tied with OLA KALA and as a result of the tie no medal was awarded that year.
....Since the launching of KLAMATH thirty years ago, 95 Kleinsorge productions have "gone into orbit." Of this total, 40, almost half, received the H.M. of the American Iris Society and 20 have been given an A.M. Two have been runner-up for the Dykes. SUNSET BLAZE won the President's Cup at the 1949 A.I.S. meeting. TOBACCO ROAD, the first really brown Iris, was a milestone in this color class, and CASCADE SPLENDOR set a new pattern and standard of quality in ruffles and branching. RANGER and its progeny have been widely used in breeding reds.
....Visitors at the Kleinsorge garden have always expressed astonishment at the limited space which constitutes the entire planting, seedlings and all. The whole area is scarcely more than a 100-foot square. But from this little garden and an annual crop of a few hundred seeds have come such iris giants as THOTMES III, BEECHLEAF, PRETTY QUADROON, TOAST AN' HONEY, FRONT PAGE, GOLDEN CROWN, FABULOUS, NUEVO LAREDO and SOLID GOLD.
....Recognition has come, too, for in 1945 Dr. Kleinsorge was given the Hybridizer's Medal of the A.I.S., in 1950 the Iris Society of England presented him with the Foster Memorial Plaque, and more recently the Massachusetts Horticultural Society awarded him the Large Gold Medal "for his outstanding work in hybridizing Iris."
....He declines to name a favorite amongst his many accepted introductions. But he does say that he thinks the raising of thousands upon thousands of seedlings by amateurs as well as "professionals" has brought about and will continue to bring constant and great improvement in this flower.
....Oh yes, he has still another hobby! For years he has been keenly interested in antique glass. His collection of cruets and other rare and authentic objects in this absorbing field would cause any museum curator to drool. Well, that is another story, but it would make interesting reading in an Antiques magazine.