Donald Robert Baer

Born: 4/20/1928 Died: 12/27/2011 Donald Robert Baer, age 83, of Greenville, DE, passed away on Tuesday, December 27, 2011. Donald was born on April 20, 1928 in Paterson, NJ, and graduated from Montclair College High School in June 1945 during wartime. He began college at Cornell University in July 1945. While at Cornell he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and played on the 150 lb. football team. Upon finishing the requirements for a BA in Chemistry in the summer of 1948 he entered the University of Michigan as a graduate student in Organic Chemistry. He completed his work for his PhD in November 1952 and immediately went to work for the DuPont Company at Jackson Laboratory at the Chambers Works. While at Michigan, Donald met Pearleen Poindexter on a blind date and they were married in Ann Arbor, MI, in April 1952. In 1952, they moved to Wilmington and raised their family in Foulk Woods. Don was active in civic affairs; he was twice elected to the Alfred I. DuPont School Board. During this time he was also active in state issues and was elected president of the Delaware School Boards Association. Don also served on the Board of Trustees for the Concord Presbyterian Church. He also was a board member of the Beaver Lake Realty Company in New Jersey. Don spent his career with the DuPont Company at Jackson Laboratory. He has a number of patents and publications in the field of dyes, fluorocarbon (“Teflon”) related chemicals and various subjects. He presented some of his work at various times in Switzerland, Germany, and England and in various cities around the United States. After retiring from DuPont, Don became interested in ornithology and worked as a research volunteer at the Delaware Museum of Natural History. In 1992, he moved to Arizona with his wife and continued his interest in bird watching. Don wrote a column for the Fountain Hills local paper titled “Desert Wings.” In 2005, Don and his wife moved back east to Greenville, DE, and spent their summers at the family lake in North Jersey. Pearleen passed away in 2007. Don is survived by his three children, Jeffrey Walter Baer of Globe, AZ, Susan Baer Benko of New Canaan, CT, and Barbara Ann Baer of Newark, DE; eight grandchildren, Jeff, Steven, Karen, Robert, Chris, Lindsay, Stephanie, and Peter; and nine great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11 am on Saturday, December 31, 2011, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1502 W. 13th Street, Wilmington, DE, 19806, where visitation will begin at 10 am. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church at the address above.