Ralph Bain

Ralph Lee Bain died peacefully at his Bethesda home on August 28, 2023. He was born on May 8, 1933, in Los Angeles, California, to Josephine (Matriciano) Bain and Edwin Vance Bain, Sr. He was raised in the Hyde Park section of Chicago, Illinois. He completed his undergraduate education in chemistry at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. An "Atomic Veteran," he was drafted into the US Army and served in the South Pacific; in 1958, he participated in Operation Hardtack nuclear testing and co-authored a scientific paper from that work. He completed his PhD. at Oregon State University, where he met his beloved wife, Oya, a Fulbright recipient from Istanbul, Turkiye, whom he married in 1964. Ralph became a frequent traveler to Istanbul, where he fit in immediately as a Turk due to his Southern Italian complexion and trademark mustache. During his graduate studies, he worked for two summers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Ralph and Oya settled in southern Illinois, where Ralph started his academic career at the University of Southern Illinois in Edwardsville (SIUE), eventually becoming the chairman of the Chemistry Department for nine years. Their daughter Tuvana was born during that time.
He had a fellowship at Argonne National Laboratories and was an honorary research fellow at University College London, England, where he spent a year in 1973.
In 1980, he received an American Council of Education Fellowship (one of 15 awarded nationally) and joined the National Institutes of Health's NIDDK, Division of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, where he worked as a program director managing large research grants to combat Kidney and Urologic diseases.
Although he trained as a chemist and worked for many years in government, he was a gifted educator and will be remembered for that by many. He was a popular professor at SIUE and kept in touch with his students and colleagues for years; after he retired, he worked as a tutor in Maryland and as a professor of Chemistry at Montgomery College, where he poured endless hours into perfecting the syllabus/ labs and supporting his students in all their studies, specifically encouraging them to hone their writing skills.
After retirement, he also enjoyed frequent road trips to New York to visit with his daughter and grandchildren Aliya and Anil Huprikar, and their feisty dog Pepper, whom he loved. He was an endlessly patient and devoted father and grandfather, unwavering in his love and support.
Outside work, he enjoyed golfing, trivia night (online moniker "X-fed"), rooting for the Cubs with Anil and his son-in-law Shirish, card tricks, PJ Wodehouse, Iris Murdoch, William Trevor, good scotch, and an early bedtime. Ralph, the original cruciverbalist in the family, enjoyed attending crossword tournaments with his daughter and commiserating about the Saturday puzzle.
He loved to travel and enjoyed many summer golf outings on the Eastern seaboard with friends. Ralph particularly looked forward to visiting family in Istanbul and quickly earned his in-laws' respect by bravely navigating the drive on one of his first trips there.
He enjoyed summers on the Turkish Mediterranean coast, playing golf and on "Blue Trips" cruises. He cherished his extended Turkish family, Turgut, Tuvana, Gence, and Ece, and spent many evenings with them poolside at their home in Antalya.
Oya and Ralph had a rich and busy social life; as the reluctant life of the party, after a glass of raki, he could be heard chatting in his Turkish ("canim benim" and "cok guzel").
He was predeceased by his younger brother, Albert, and an older brother, Edwin Vance, a Purple Heart Veteran who participated in and survived the famous Doolittle Raid in 1942 in the Pacific but was killed in action on a bombing run in Europe in 1943. Ralph was so proud of his brother's sacrifice and, in 2016, took a family trip to North Carolina to honor Vance and visit his memorial In Greensboro.
He is survived by Oya, his wife of 60 years; daughter, Dr. Tuvana Bain; two grandchildren, Aliya and Anil Huprikar; his niece, Karena Nelson; nephew, Douglas Bain; and his sister-in-law, Barbara.
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