Raymond K. Sheline

Raymond K. Sheline, 93, died on Feb. 10 in Fort Myers, Fla.

“Sheline was among the last surviving scientists of the WWII Manhattan Project. He was in his first week of boot camp training in Camp Claiborne, La., when he received orders to report to the project, at age 21, the youngest member of the team. ‘In one instant, my life was changed forever,’ he used to recall. In 1964, he applied to the Soviet Union to collaborate with a colleague on research. He; his wife, Yvonne; and their seven children camped across Eastern Europe and through the Soviet Union, traveling in a Volkswagen bus at the height of the Cold War. On the way out, they were stopped at the border and detained for most of the day because of worry about stealing state secrets while the children played soccer with the guards.”—Yvette Sheline, daughter

Most recent title: Distinguished Professor of Chemistry & Nuclear Physics, Florida State University

Education: Ph.D., chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 1948

Survivors: daughter Yvette; sons, Raymond, Jonathan, Hans, Martin, and Christian; 20 grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter