Ralph Burhans

[Frank Gentges KØBRA]

To the Burhans Family,

Please accept the condolences from me and from AMRAD on the death of Ralph 
Burhans.  We have been working hard to learn of some technologies that he 
had enlightened us on.  We hope to move his work just a step forward but he 
set a high standard and improvement has proven difficult.

I personally wanted the chance to meet and talk with him and am sure I 
would have found him a kindred sole in my interests.  His obituary shows 
his interests spread well beyond the point we found common interests and we 
would have liked to share them with him also.

I feel a loss.

Frank Gentges


At 06:05 PM 5/1/01 -0400, Burhans wrote:
>Just came across my father-in-law's name on your website -- below is his
>obituary, fyi.  (he just passed away.)  He was thrilled by your mention
>of him on the site, btw!)
>Hilarie Burhans
>
>
>Ralph W. Burhans passed away peacefully on Friday, April 27, 2001. He
>was 78 years old.
>
>Born in Cleveland Ohio on May 30, 1922, he was the son of the late
>Everett Hurst Burhans and Geneva Wellman Burhans of Hudson, Ohio.
>
>In World War II he was a tech sargent radio and radar operator in B-17s
>and flew 33 combat missions over Nazi Germany. He attended Kent State
>University, graduated from Oberlin College, and did part time graduate
>work at Case Western Reserve University.
>
>He held a position as a research associate at Sohio Research in
>Cleveland, originating eight patents assigned to Sohio.. Most notable is
>a patent on “microballoons”, hollow plastic or silica spheres used as
>ablative heat shielding on spacecraft and as insulating material.
>
>He was a research engineer and lecturer at the Ohio University Avionics
>Engineering Center, and had more than 70 papers, reports, and articles
>published in the NASA archives and various technical journals. He was a
>member of the International Loran Association, the Audio Engineering
>Society, the Institute for Navigation, and Sigma Xi, the scientific
>honorary.
>
>While on leave from Ohio University, he was Station Manager of the
>mmwave radio telescope operated by the National Radio Astronomy
>Observatory at Kitt Peak, Arizona during its final construction phases
>in 1966-1967.
>
>He was a member of the ACLU, the Unitarian Fellowship of Athens, the
>National Audubon Society, and the Athens County Humane Society.
>
>He was preceded in death by his wife Jane Cuthbert Burhans. He is
>survived by his sons, Mark John Burhans and Dirk Everett Burhans, and
>grandchildren Emily Jane Burhans, Ryland Lee Burhans, and Shawna Cady
>Burhans.
>
>His remains have been willed to the Ohio University College of Medicine.
>A memorial service will be held at the Unitarian Fellowship on Sunday,
>May 13 at noon.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Athens
>County Humane Society Cat Shelter.
>
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Frank Gentges KØBRA
fgentges@mindspring.com