Andrew (Don) Kelmers passed away peacefully on Sunday July 7, 2024. Don was born March 24, 1929, in Queens, New York City. Don was a man of many layers; brilliant scientist, loving husband, father and patriarch, articulate citizen, entertaining humorist, and a generous friend to many.
Over the course of Don’s youth events of the times, including the Great Depression, led his family to traverse between New York and Ohio, instilling in him a lifelong love of travel. He grew up on small farms, in small towns and the big city. On the farm he spent long days with his close companion, a Collie mix named Shorty and in New York City he found himself to be in one of the world’s great cultural centers. He acquired a lasting love of animal companions, steam locomotives and classical music as his mother, Dorothy, was a professional pianist.
In 1944 Don’s family moved to Maumee, Ohio where he attended Maumee High School and made life-long friends. In 1946 he entered Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH, graduating in 1952 with a BS in chemistry and then continued his education at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH, earning a MS in chemistry in 1954.
In college Don’s life flourished. He worked a co-op job as a marine chemist for the Scripps Institute of Oceanography which took him from the sunny beaches of California to the Arctic Ocean aboard a US Navy ice breaker. At Antioch he met Barbara Pearson, his loving wife of 72 years. They dated with dances in the gym and walks at the nature preserve, and were married on Barbara’s birthday, August third of 1952.
Don’s scientific career spanned three phases; first working in the field of extractive metallurgy with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); second working in the aerospace industry with Astropower, a subsidiary of Douglass Aircraft; and third a return to ORNL to lead a team pursuing the large-scale purification of tRNAs. He presented papers at national and international conferences and became a Member of the Biochemical Society.
Don retired in 1992 and recalled a writer saying, retirement is not for sitting on the front porch, it’s for doing all the things you never had time to do before, which is what he set out to accomplish. Don and Barbara bought a small RV trailer and pickup truck and proceeded to spend many happy years crisscrossing the United States and Canada, especially enjoying the American southwest and its mixture of cultures.
Don is survived by his wife of 72 years, Barbara Kelmers of Alpharetta, GA; son Andrew (Howen) Kelmers of Arlington VA; son Alex Kelmers of Knoxville, TN; son Ben (Miriam) Kelmers of Oak Ridge, TN; daughter Caroline Stidham of Alpharetta, GA; grandchildren Nathan Kelmers, Julia Kelmers, Shaunte (Eric) Lonberger, Brandon Kelmers, Ben (Karmen) Jones, Donnie (Kellie) Jones, Robby (Lacey) Jones, Matthew (Rachael) Stidham, Melissa (Lucas) Pearson, Brian Stidham, many loving great grandchildren and Barbara’s brother Bruce (Lee) Pearson of Philadelphia, PA.
Immediate family will hold a celebration of life and memorialize his ashes in a private ceremony. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that those so led might make a small donation in Don’s honor to the National Park Foundation, or another charity of their choice.
