Two former Ohio University professors, both described as energetic, died this month.
Former geography professor Hubertus L. “Hugh” Bloemer died March 10 from pneumonia, a result of the cancer he had battled for 17 months. He was 71.
“He fought it with grace and dignity. He never complained,” said his wife Susan Bloemer, who described him as a great friend and adviser.
“He always told me that he was the best friend I got, and he was,” Susan said. “I loved him very much.”
Bloemer was born in Dinklage, Germany, in 1939 and only had an eighth-grade education when he came to the U.S. in 1960, according to a news release.
Bloemer was “a force of nature” and “a man of his word,” said Dorothy Sack, a geography professor who knew Bloemer for 16 years.
He started working at OU in 1971 as an instructor and director of the Department of Geography Cartographic Center. He served as department chair from 1994 to 1998 and as chair of Faculty Senate from 2001 to 2004, according to the release. In 2006, Bloemer co-authored a controversial report about plagiarism in the Russ College of Engineering, which was later found to be inaccurate. Several lawsuits were filed against OU after the report was released.
“Hugh was an amazing person,” said Tim Anderson, chair of the geography department. “He ... will be mostly remembered for his passion for teaching and his passion for geography. He was very gregarious. He was a very committed faculty member, very committed to his students.”
In his spare time, Bloemer enjoyed cartography, carpentry and mountain climbing, according to the release.
Bloemer climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro three times and some of Mt. Everest, Susan said.
He is also survived by stepchildren, Josh and Julie, according to the release.
OU will hold a memorial service for Bloemer April 9 at 1:30 p.m. in Galbreath Chapel. Bloemer left OU $250,000 for a scholarship in his name, and the family asks that people contribute to the endowment in lieu of sending flowers.
Three days after Bloemer’s death, on March 13, former physics professor Roger Finlay died in a hospital near his home in North Carolina. It is unknown what he died from. He was 75.
Finlay worked at OU from 1962 to 2001 and was the university’s first nuclear physicist, according to a news release.
“He was a very energetic scientist and an enthusiastic teacher,” said Joseph Shields, chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Finlay published or co-published more than 100 papers and received more than $5 million in grant funding. Finlay was also one of the key people responsible for bringing a 4.5 MeV tandem Van de Graaff accelerator to OU, according to the release.
“He was the one who really made it happen,” said professor Ken Hicks, who worked in an office next to Finlay for 10 years.
Finlay was interested in a wide variety of topics and co-taught a Tier 3 class about the effects of the atomic bomb and the Cold War, Hicks said.
OU is still working with Finlay’s family to schedule a campus memorial service. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to an endowment in Finlay’s name.
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