Calling
Crown Hill Gothic Chapel-
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Email Details
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700 38th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46208
1931
John
2017
John Lewis Occolowitz
July 30, 1931 — September 7, 2017
John Lewis Occolowitz, the only child of John and Bella Occolowitz, was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1931 and after a long illness, died peacefully September 7, 2017.
In 1950, he graduated from the Footscray Technical College with a Diploma of Applied Chemistry, and after several more years of study graduated from the University of Melbourne with a B.Sc. and Diploma of Education.
After two years of teaching, he obtained a position as a chemist with the Australian Department of Supply, where he developed gelling agents for gasoline, headed an optical spectroscopy lab, and discovered, using chemical methods, the structure of a naturally occurring vesicant.
In 1961, he headed up the newly formed mass spectrometry lab where he used the mass spectrometer to solve problems in structural organic chemistry
In 1962, he married Airdrie Macnab, his wife for his remaining 55 years.
As a result of his work, he was a Visiting Scientist at MIT for a year. In 1965, he collected his work in mass spectrometry and by thesis obtained the M.Sc. at the University of Melbourne.
In 1967, he joined Eli Lilly and Co. to head what was then the company's only mass spectrometry laboratory, where he used mass spectrometry to solve structural organic chemistry problems for Lilly's current and potential products.
He retired in 1993 as a Senior Research Scientist, and he and his wife lived seasonally in Michigan, Florida, and Indianapolis. He was a handyman and enjoyed light construction, as well as being an amateur radio operator, for which he held the Australian call VK3ZAI, and later the US call KB9MIE.
As a result of ill health in 2015, he and his wife settled in Indianapolis.
He is survived by his wife, Airdrie; daughter, Stacey Roesch and husband Matt Roesch; son, Peter Occolowitz and husband Christopher Dlutowski; and granddaughter, Aurelia Dlutowski-Occolowitz.
Calling will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. September 30, 2017 at Crown Hill Gothic Chapel, Indianapolis. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Humane Society of Indianapolis.
Arrangements entrusted to A.R.N. Funeral & Cremation Services. Friends may leave a memory or message of condolence by visiting the online obituary at www.arnmortuary.com.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of John Lewis Occolowitz, please visit our flower store.
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