Malcolm Cornelius Bourne

May 18, 1926 - October 3, 2016
"Blessed are those who die in the Lord."
Malcolm Bourne died peacefully at home, with his wife, Janice and daughter, Virginia at his side. He had mesothelioma and was in hospice care. Thank you to his nurse, Barb Patnode and others who provided for Malcolm's care.
Calling hours are from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday (October 7) at DeVaney-Bennett Funeral Home, Main Street, Geneva. Memorial Service at 3 p.m. on Saturday (October 8) at First Baptist Church, 134 North Main Street, Geneva.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are requested for the Director's Excellence Fund, NYSAES, 630 W. North St., Geneva, NY 14456-1371 or online at nysaes.cals.cornell.edu/directors-fund or to the church or charity of your choice.
Born to Winifred Collins and Herbert Bourne in Moonta, South Australia, ten minutes before his twin, Margaret Cornelius, Malcolm said, "Every little boy should have a twin sister" and Margaret agreed. They joined a brother, Donald, who predeceased him. Malcolm and his family soon moved to Adelaide, where he became a very serious student, resenting recess and game playing, because it took time from the real work of learning figures and words and science. At 13 years of age, chemistry became his first love, moving to a close second, only when he married his precious wife, Elizabeth Schumacher, a decade later. They were happily married more than 53 years (1953-2007) before she died of cancer. He and Elizabeth had five children Gwendolyn Bourne, Jonathan (Penny) Bourne, Lincoln (Stephanie) Bourne, Virginia (Ralph) Trecartin and Andrew (Gilann) Bourne, who predeceased him. Ten grandchildren Sierra (Alan) Bourne-Podawiltz, Andrew (Megan) Trecartin, Eric Bourne, Alex Trecartin, Ross Trecartin, Zackary (Amanda) Trecartin, Stephen Brown-Bourne, Christopher Brown-Bourne, Rand Bourne and Finnley Bourne, brought joy to his life always. In 2008, Malcolm married Janice Robinson adding Janée (Mike Monk) Robinson and T. Leslie (Molly) Robinson, loved stepchildren, along with a step grandchild, Mayla Robinson. And on September 28, 2016, Malcolm became the great-grandfather everyone knew he already was, when Jono Podawiltz was born. Over his long career as a chemist and food scientist, Malcolm desired that his God-given gifts and his hard work to hone those gifts, be used in the service of humankind, to honor God. He lectured in over 40 countries and traveled to many more, worked to advance the use of good-tasting soy milk, in Asian countries, where malnourishment was prevalent, headed up a Chinese government-sponsored symposium, in 1984, to further agriculture in China, spent two years helping to set up a graduate food science department, at the University of the Philippines, in Los Banos, and long into retirement, lectured around the country and the world, as well as mentored students and others, in their fields of study. He was especially interested in Post Harvest Food Loss and worked to spread the word and solutions for decades, through papers, lectures, encyclopedia articles and upper-level classes, at Cornell University. Among the many awards and honors Malcolm received over his long career in Food Science, he was especially honored when he was presented with the International Award, by the Institute of Food Technologists, in 1992. A longtime active member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, in Adelaide first, then in Auburn and Geneva, he was instrumental in building the local church in Geneva, where he was Head Elder, until a few years ago. He also promoted Adventist education at all levels.
Malcolm Bourne, Ph.D., graduated from the University of Adelaide, South Australia, AUS, with a B.S. in Chemistry, worked ten years in industry as a chemist, at Mum's Own food processing factory in Adelaide, did his Masters in Food Science and Ph.D. in Chemistry, at the University of California, Davis. He then joined the faculty of Cornell University, as a full time research professor, at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. He was an Emeritus Professor in retirement. His major work at Cornell, was in rheology and in the measurement of food texture. He wrote the definitive book on texture still used today.
For those wishing to write a note of condolence,
please visit www.devaneybennettfh.com.