NORMAN — James W. Gentry, Ph.D., 72, of Norman, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012, at Norman Regional Hospital in Norman.
Services will be 10 a.m. Thursday at Havenbrook Funeral Home in Norman. Graveside services will be 4 p.m. Thursday at Hobart Rose Cemetery in Hobart.
Dr. Gentry was born on Nov. 27, 1939, in Hobart to J. Bryan and Juanita (Davis) Gentry. Jim attended Hobart Public Schools and graduated in 1957 from Hobart High School. He graduated with honors from Oklahoma State University in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
At Oklahoma State University, he was a member of the four-person General Electric College Bowl team that appeared on live national television. He was selected for one of the first Fulbright Scholarships won by a student at Oklahoma State University, and he attended and graduated from the University of Birmingham, England, where he received his Master of Science in chemical engineering. He subsequently attended the University of California at Berkley and the University of Texas at Austin, and, in 1969, was awarded a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Texas.
He was hired that year as a professor at the University of Maryland and served on their chemical engineering faculty from 1969 to 2002 when he retired and moved back to Norman.
He was a professor and researcher for the University of Maryland and received a number of teaching and research awards.
He has received many honors as an international expert in the study of aerosols. He was selected as a fellow by the Washington Academy of Science and was awarded the Sigma XI Research Award at the University of Maryland in 1994. He also was selected as a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 1993.
In 2000, he was chosen as the recipient of the prestiageous David Sinclair Award for his sustained and outstanding work in aerosol research and technology.
He was a member of McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church in Norman. He loved trivia and was a member of Team Hobart, a team of former Hobart students who enjoyed taking part in an annual sports trivia bowl in Norman.
He was a loving and caring brother and uncle who lived under difficult circumstances for the last years of his life but did it with courage and as example to the family he loved.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
He is survived by his brother, William E. Gentry and wife Susan of Hobart; nephews J. Bradley Gentry of Topeka, Kan., J. Matt Gentry of Tulsa and Wes Gentry of Denver; nieces Renee Morlan and Allison Gentry, both of Denver, and Janna Gentry of Norman; great-nephews and great-nieces Evie Gentry, Will Morlan, Charlottee Gentry, Ian Morlan, Walter Gentry, Bianci Gentry, Beckett Morlan, George Gentry, James Gentry and Henry Genrty; first cousins Mary Lou Perkey and Patsy Holliday; and special friends Ed and Lena Frost and Ben and Jeanette Newcomer, all of Norman, and Tom Morgan and wife Earlene of Moore.
Memorials can be made to Hobart Educational Enrichment Foundation, c/o Hobart Public Schools, for the James W. Gentry Academic Scholarships.
Family will greet friends from 6 to 7 p.m. today at Havenbrook Funeral Home.
Local arrangements are by Havenbrook Funeral Home. Arrangements in Hobart are by Ray and Martha’s Funeral Home in Hobart.
Online condolences can be made at rayandmarthas.com.
Norman Transcript, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012
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