Obituaries

John R. Carpenter, a chemical company executive, died on May 23. He was 51.

Born in Missouri, he received a B.S. in chemistry from Northwest Missouri State University in 1977. From 1991 to 2005, he was the vice president of technical affairs with Phoenix Scientific. Previously, he had worked at Anchor Serum (1979-89) and Fermenta (1989-91). He was a member of his church and the Boy Scouts of America. He joined ACS in 1985.

Carpenter is survived by his wife, Twyla (Taylor); parents; two brothers; two stepsons; and a granddaughter.

Irwin Cohen, 82, a professor of chemistry at Youngstown State University, in Ohio, for nearly five decades, died on April 3.

Cohen served two years in the Navy before college. He received B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Case Western Reserve University. In 1949, he became a professor at what was then called Youngstown College. During his tenure, he maintained a research program in theoretical chemistry for undergraduate students.

For his teaching and service to the university, Cohen received several awards. He helped start numerous programs at the university, including the graduate school, an individualized curriculum for students forming their own course of study, and university chapters of several honor societies. He retired in 1992.

In addition to publishing in 1961 the first refereed scientific paper originating at Youngstown University, Cohen also published articles on Judaism in print and online magazines.

An emeritus member, Cohen joined ACS in 1949. The following year, he helped to found the Youngstown local section and chaired it in 1952.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Beatrice; his son, Martin P. Cohen, who joined ACS in 1977; two additional sons; and four grandchildren.

Alan A. Jones, 61, professor of chemistry at Clark University, in Massachusetts, died on May 23.

He was born in Jamestown, N.Y. He received his B.A. with high honors in chemistry from Colgate University in 1966. After studying nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry and completing his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin in 1972, Jones spent two years doing postdoctoral work at Dartmouth College working with the late Walter J. Stockmayer in polymer science.

In 1974, Jones became an assistant professor of chemistry at Clark University. A full professor in 1983, he served as chairman of the department during much of the 1980s, acting provost (1987-88), dean of graduate studies and research (1993-95), and as University Professor (1996-99).

His research focused on studying the properties of modern polymeric/plastic materials and polymer dynamics with solid-state NMR. His research group had an ongoing relationship with many major corporate research centers. He helped obtain funds from private foundations to enhance the sciences at Clark. As a consequence of his leadership, the university gained national recognition as a center for NMR.

Jones received the university's Outstanding Teacher Award in 1988, and colleagues say he spent as much time mentoring his students as individuals as he did working with them on their professional development.

Outside of his work, Jones devoted much of his life to guiding youth of all ages. He taught skiing and snowboarding, coached basketball, helped with homework, and did chemistry demonstrations at local schools.

Jones also transformed his lakefront yard into a meticulously maintained landscape of flowers, plants, and trees. He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Eunice, and two brothers. He joined ACS in 1974.

Robert G. Lange, 79, a chemist with Monsanto for 40 years, died on Feb. 6 after a long illness with Lewy body disease, a fatal dementia.

He served in the U.S. Army during WWII, and military history became his hobby. Lange earned both B.S. and M.S. degrees in organic chemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1952, and retired from Monsanto in 1991.

Lange is survived by his wife of 56 years, Joanna; three children; one grandchild; a brother; three step-grandchildren; and two step-great-grandchildren.

William J. Phares, 74, an educator, died on April 18.

Born in Indiana, he served in the U.S. Army in Korea. He graduated from Ball State University with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master's degree in education.

Phares taught in a high school, worked as a chemist with D. A. Oil, and retired from the Department of Defense as an educational instructor.

A jazz band player, he also enjoyed photography and religion. Phares was predeceased by his first wife, Martha, and is survived by his wife, Jean; three children; two grandchildren; three stepchildren, and four step-grandchildren.

Paul A. Rebers, 83, retired research chemist at the National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa, died on May 31.

Rebers was born in Minneapolis. While in high school, he designed a mechanical hand to replace the one he lost in an accident. He later received a patent for the design.

At the University of Minnesota, he earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. in biochemistry. He worked for Rohm and Haas (1946-49) and Holly Sugar (1953-55), was an assistant professor of immunochemistry at Rutgers University (1955-60), and then worked as a research chemist at the Department of Agriculture's National Animal Disease Center (1961-88). Rebers' major research efforts involved lipopolysaccharide antigens found in Pasteurella multocida, which is responsible for fowl cholera. He coedited "Radon, Radium, and Uranium in Drinking Water," a book published in 1990.

Rebers was active in his church, the Masonic Lodge, and Eastern Star. He enjoyed gardening, worked with the Boy Scouts of America, and was also interested in politics. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1947.

He was preceded in death by his son Joseph, and is survived by his wife, E. Louise; two sons; and two grandchildren.

Joseph C. Wasilewski, 81, founder of Windsor Applied Science Inc., died on May 13.

The chemical engineer, teacher, and inventor held five patents for instrumentation. He was an Army veteran and a graduate of Pennsylvania State University. He also worked for American Instrument, FMC, New Jersey Hospital Association, and Mercer County Community College in New Jersey.

Wasilewski is survived by his wife of 49 years, Mary Donna; four children; and six grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1952.