Obituary

Jonathan lester brockwell, 68, was born on august 17, 1947, in niagara falls, new york, to lloyd and evelyn booth brockwell.  he died on  june, 10, 2016, in charleston, west virginia, from als (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).  he is predeceased by his parents and three of his brothers, jeffrey, joshua, and joseph.  he is survived by: his wife, marianne; his son, patrick james potter; his step-son, matthew w. Sabin; three sisters, judy simcox (boyer), joyce brockwell, and janet brockwell (joan); his brother jeremy; nieces and nephews aaron, kelly, sarah, and rebecca brockwell and julia kuriger (karl). 
in 1953, his family moved to moorestown, new jersey.  then, in 1961, they moved to cambridge, ohio, where he attended high school.  after graduating from case western reserve university in 1969, jon worked for shell oil in wood river, illinois, before beginning graduate work at the university of toledo, obtaining m.S. And ph.D. Degrees in chemical engineering and engineering science in 1975 and 1979.  his theses were “experimental investigation of dissolved oxygen concentration profile in attached slime growths” and “investigation of the dissolution of so₂ bubbles in toluene in zero and normal gravity.”   he was always proud of the application of his thesis research to nasa shuttle efforts. 
he married marcia while in toledo and then began a distinguished research and development career at the union carbide technical center in south charleston, west virginia, in 1979.  after their divorce, marcia and he remained close.  he met marianne in charleston, and they married in 1996. 
jon’s impressive breadth of knowledge was demonstrated by the diversity of his thesis projects and by the range of research areas to which he contributed at union carbide: process fundamentals, alternative raw materials utilization, ethane oxydehydrogenation, synthesis gas to fuel alcohols, safety research, acrolein process support, and methylmercaptopropionaldehyde process development.
He was strongly committed to recycling and set an example for others with his conscientious efforts, leading to recognition for him from governor rockefeller.  his concern for others was manifested by his long-term, active participation on the men’s emergency shelter board, before, during, and after its evolution to the roark-sullivan lifeway center. 
after retiring from ucc in 2002, jon and marianne traveled extensively visiting over 40 countries in 13 years..  he did some consulting, worked with the aarp income tax assistance program, and continued his other volunteer work in the community. 
his many friends valued his wit, intellect, iconoclasm, leadership, and organizational abilities, referring to him as “the general” throughout his ucc career.  he will be greatly missed. 
jonathan requested cremation, visitation will be on tuesday, june 14, 2016, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at barlow bonsall funeral home, 1118 virginia street east, charleston, west virginia.  there will also be family services in cambridge, oh and there will be a “beer buddies” memorial service at a later date.
Instead of flowers, the family has suggested that memorial contributions could be sent to one of four local charities that jon supported: hospice care, 1606 kanawha boulevard west, charleston, wv, 25387, as a thank you for the wonderful care and support; roark-sullivan lifeway center ““ veterans activities ““ p.O. Box 1707, charleston, wv, 25326; dog blesswv, p.O. Box 11191, charleston, wv, 25339 to support the rescue of homeless dogs; or keep your faith corporation, 1046 garden st., charleston, wv, 25302, a group that strives to help the youth of charleston.