Dateline: Burnt Hills, NY
Robert DeVries of Burnt Hills, N.Y., died Monday, May 3, 2021, at his home. He was born October 10, 1922 in Evansport, Ohio, the elder son of Rev. Charles DeVries and Rebecca Goethe DeVries. He attended schools in Barre and Pepperell, MA and graduated in 1940 from Geneseo High School, Geneseo, Illinois. He was a rector Scholar at DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana from 1940-42 and from 1946-48. He enlisted as an Aviation Cadet in the Air Corps in July 1942 and was given a medical discharge in May 1943. He worked as a topographer with the U.S. Geological Survey in the Atlantic Division for three years before returning to DePauw University in 1946. He graduated in 1948 with a BA in geology and mineralogy. His PhD was awarded from Pennsylvania State University in chemistry/mineralogy in 1953.
From 1961 to 1964 Robert was an Associate Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, in the Minerals Science and Engineering Department. He joined the General Electric Company’s Research Lab in Schenectady, N.Y. in 1954 and worked there for 34 years. He was elected to the Coolidge Fellowship in 1981. Robert was known internationally for his work on phase equilibria in ceramic systems and on synthesis and properties of diamond and cubic boron nitride. At GE he initiated the work that led to the synthesis of gem quality jadeite at high pressures and temperatures.
Robert was a cultural exchange visitor in Japan in 1974 and held an honorary membership in the Japanese Materials Research Society. He was a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and the American Mineralogical Society, and a member of the Mineralogical Society of London, the American Association of Crystal Growth, AAAS, Sigma Xi, the Materials Research Society, and the National Academy of Engineering. He was the author or co-author of many published papers and of 25 patents.
Robert lived and cared for his family. He kept bees, ran marathons, bicycled, hiked, camped, skied, snowshoed, skated, played tennis, pitched horseshoes, bowled, spun string tops, did backyard maple sugaring, whittled, competed with squirrels for nuts, hunted for edible mushrooms and arrowheads and minerals, and puzzled about the mystery and meaning of life and the haunting elusiveness of truth. He volunteered with the Elfun’s Society tape player repair program, the Schenectady Museum, and the Hall of History. He was a member of the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady and sang tenor in the choir.
Robert’s wife Ruth, died in March 2013 after 69 years of marriage. He was also predeceased by his brother, Paul, of New York City, and son, Peter of Kernersville, NC. He is survived by three sons, David, of Ballston Spa, NY, and his wife Paula; Charles, of Asheville, NC and his wife, Telle, and their children, Tynan and Elise; Jonathan, of Cobleskill, NY; daughter, Katherine, of Asheboro, NC, and her husband, Louis R. Peters, and their children, Kasey and George Ellsworth; daughter-in-law, Dede DeVries, of Kernersville, NC; and sisters, Faith Brown (husband, Willard) of Brewster, MA and Lucy Duffy, of Hillsboro, NC.
Ashes will be interred at Island Pond Cemetery, Harwich, MA, in a private family ceremony.
Memorial contributions in his memory may be made to your favorite charity or to Community Hospice of Saratoga, Planned Parenthood, Ballston Lake Emergency Squad, Neptune Volunteer Firemen in Burnt Hills, or the Schenectady Museum.