Charles L. Zimmerman, Jr., age 99, of Satellite Beach, Fla., died Feb. 19, 2013 at home. Born May 18, 1913, Charles was a native of Westminster, SC. He and his wife, Elanore, nee Huff Oxley, of Waverly, PA., rasied their two children in New Jersey and Virginia before retiring to Satellite Beach in 1978. Mr. Zimmerman earned a BS degree in physical chemistry from The Citadel in 1934 and an MS degree in chemistry from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1942. He also did graduate work at Clemson University, Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, Rutgers University and Princeton University. After receiving his commission up on graduation from The Citadel in 1934, he served in the US Army Reserve Coastal Artillery and was promoted to first lieutenant during his eight years of service. Despite his prior military service, at the outbreak of World War II, he was exempted from active duty because his job as a scientist was considered essential to the war effort. Mr. Zimmerman had been an active member of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) since 1936 when he joined while a student at Clemson. In Oct. 1979, he was the recipient of the prestigious Harold C. Chapin Award, presented annually by the AATCC to a senior member who has contributed outstanding service to AATCC over a period of 20 or more years. Mr. Zimmerman served as vice-president of AATCC’s Central Atlantic region, had the distinction of being chairman of both the Metropolitan (NY-NJ) and Northern Piedmont (NC-VA) section of the AATCC and served as a national councilor for the Piedmont, Northern Piedmont and Metropolitan sections. He was chairman of the 1973 National Technical Conference and chairman of the 1975-1976 study commmittee on long-range objectives for the association and served on numerous technical committees, including the technical committee on research and the executive committee on research. He was the author or co-author of more than 30 technical papers and patents and was the 1954 recipient of the American Dyestuff Reporter Award for best paper published that year in official AATCC proceedings. He was listed in The American Men of Science and was a member of the British Society of Dyers and Colourists. Following graduation from The Citadel during the Depression, Charles taught high school in SC for a year, did graduate work at Clemson and then, in 1936, joined Renfrew Bleachery of Taylors, SC, as plant chemist. He left Renfrew in 1939 to join the US Depart of Agriculture’s plant breeeding laboratory in Charleston as a chemist. He left Charleston in Feb. 1940 to enroll in the graduate programat Georgia Tech, where he received his Master of Science degree in chemistry in Feb. 1942. He joined American Cyanimid Co. of Bound Brook, NJ, in 1942 as a research chemist in the application of dyes to textile materials, was named head research in the dyeing of synthetic fibers in 1952 and became group leader in dyes research in 1953. He left American Cynamid in 1956 to become assistant director of research for Dan River Mills of Danville, VA. He returned to American Cynamid in 1963 and was manager of technical services for its fiber division at the time of his retirement in 1975. He was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Elanore, and his son, Charles L. (Rocky) Zimmerman III. He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Ellen and Jack Hazen of Sharon, MA, and his granddaughter, her husband and their son, Caroline Hazen and Frank and Alexander Faubert of Lincoln, MA. Mr. Zimmerman suffered from macular degeneration in his later years and the NLS Talking Books program was vital to him. Memorial donations may be made to the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Attn: Office of the Director, 1291 Taylor St NW, Washington, DC 20542. A private graveside service will be held at the historic Rock Ridge Cemetary in Sharon, MA. Tags: 1934
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