In Memoriam-Marvin D. Rausch

Professor Emeritus Marvin D. Rausch, 77, of Amherst, died Friday at Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst. Born June 27, 1930 in Topeka, Kan., he was the son of the late Grover H. and Ruby R. (Laing) Rausch.

Marv attended schools in Kansas and earned his BS and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. He received his doctorate in organic chemistry in
1955.

Marv served in the U.S. Air Force as a projects officer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio from 1955 to 1957. This was a period of active Air Force interest in organosilicon and organometallic chemistry. He remained in the Air Force reserves until his discharge as a captain in 1967.

He traveled to Munich in 1957 as the second post-doctoral associate of Prof. E. O. Fischer, a Nobel Prize recipient. Upon his return from Germany, Marv joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and became full professor in 1968. He remained active in the field of organometallic chemistry throughout his career. He was one of the first chairmen of the Organometallic Subdivision of the American Chemical Society's Division of Inorganic Chemistry. Marv was also the Permanent International Secretary of the International Conference on Organometallic Chemistry.

His "hobby" was minerology and he had one of the finest private mineral collections in New England. In recent years, his passion was UMass athletics and particularly the UMass basketball team.

He is survived by his wife, Jane (Meyer) Rausch; a daughter, Kathleen Rausch Henchey, of Saline, Mich; two grandchildren, Craig and Laura, and also by his former wife, Carol Kreischer, of Ann Arbor, Mich.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, May 17 at 10 a.m. at Edwards 297 Main St., Northampton. Burial in Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst will be at the convenience of the family. Arrangements have been entrusted to Pease and Gay Funeral Home in Northampton. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the UMass Athletic Department for scholarships.

(Daily Hampshire Gazette, 5/5/08)