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m e m o r i a m
Alumni
HELEN SEABORG B.A. ’39, English
She was preceded in death by her husband, Glenn; son, Peter; and Peter’s twin sister, Paulette, who died in infancy. Helen is survived by daughter, Lynne Cobb, and her husband, William Cobb, of St. George, UT; son, David, and his wife, Adele, of Walnut Creek, CA; son, Stephen of La Mesa, CA; son, Eric, and his wife, Ellen Dudley, of Charlottesville, VA; daughter, Dianne, and her partner, Tor Neilands, of Lafayette, CA; and two granddaughters. obituary courtesy of seaborg family.
Jacob D. “Jake” Kemp (Ph.D. Chem) passed away on May 5, 2006, in his home in El Cerrito, CA, at the age of 95. His friend and colleague, Bruce Stangeland (Ph.D. ’67, ChemE), has forwarded the following information:
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Jacob D. Kemp was a widely recognized authority in the field of alkylation, participating in its early development and contributing to the understanding of reaction mechanisms, processes of acid consumption, and reaction kinetics. Kemp was also an authority in the techniques of handling anhydrous HF and applying it in catalysis and solvent refining. While a grad student at Berkeley, studying the properties of ethane at low temperatures, he discovered that the rotation of carbon-carbon bonds was hindered rather than free, as had formerly been believed. This information was necessary in determining the structure of DNA. Kemp spent his entire career at Chevron Research in Richmond, garnering many patents for Chevron through the years. Kemp was born in San Francisco, the son of Russian immigrants. He played piano his entire life, improvising as well as playing from memory — from tangos to Bach. He was a man of prodigious energy, both physical and mental, and was an avid tennis player. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Dorothy; their two daughters, Kindra and Marcia (aka Sofia Christine); and their son, Dana (who for the last several years has played Dixieland jazz with Stangeland). based in part on obituary by kindra kemp.
Nancy P. Menoher (B.A. Chem; M.D. ’43) passed away on April 17, 2006. She had made her home in Rialto, CA.
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Harry E. Morris, Jr. (B.S. Chem) passed away on April 8, 2006. He had lived in Castro Valley, CA.
Douglas D. McConnell (B.A. Chem), a retired vice president in planning and management at Exxon Middle East, passed away on July 21, 2006. McConnell received his M.S. in 1942 from MIT. His wife, Ruth, predeceased him. He lived in Walnut Creek, CA.
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Louis R. “Ray” Damskey, Jr. (B.A. Chem), a regular attendee at the G. N. Lewis Era alumni luncheons, passed away on June 21, 2006. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and served as an officer in the Pacific Theater until 1946 (retiring as Commander, USNR). He then joined Union Oil Company of California. In 1964 he moved to Bechtel corporation in San Francisco and worked there until 1977, during which time he obtained his M.B.A. from San Jose State University. From 1969–71 he also served with the U.S. Export-Import Bank as a development officer for engineering programs. He was an owner of the Dutch Henry Vineyard in Calistoga, CA. His wife, Constance Robinson Damskey (B.A. ’43, Education/Decorative Art), recalls that he was the patriarch of the family, respected by all who knew him, with a quick analytic mind and a passion for all life. She adds that he was known for his love of family, his respect for nature and his passion for music.
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Harold J. Eding (B.S. Chem) of Vancouver, WA, passed away on January 28, 2006. Before retirement, he worked for Rockwell as a chemist. He is survived by his wife, Lois. Margaret Melhase Fuchs (B.S. Chem) passed away peacefully at home in Menlo Park on August 8, 2006. As an undergraduate nuclear chemist at Berkeley during the 1930s, she was codiscoverer with Glenn Seaborg (Ph.D. ’37, Chem) of Cesium-137, one of the most widely used radionuclides in the world.
COURTESY FUCHS FAMILY
COURTESY LBNL
A supporter of open space and an avid hiker, she and Glenn devoted many weekends to scouting a hiking route across the state of California. This route was used in 1980 by a project of the American Hiking Society called HikaNation, in which a group of backpackers hiked coast-to-coast. Much of the route later became a part of today’s coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail.
Fall 2006 Catalyst