Robert E. Dempski

Robert E. Dempski, Ph.D., of Dresher, Pa., died Friday, July 24, 2009, at Abington Memorial Hospice, Warminster, after a short illness. He was 75. He was the husband of Margaret (Pinker) Dempski. They were married for 42 years.
Born on a farm in Centermoreland, Pa., on July 3, 1934, during the Great Depression, he was a son of the late Charles and Mary (Colapilo) Dempski.
Dr. Dempski attended a two-room grade school in Centermoreland, where each room had four grades and four to five students per grade with one teacher. He was a graduate of Kingston High School. After receiving a Breyer’s Scholarship, he graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy & Science with a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy in 1956. He earned a doctorate in pharmaceutics from the University of Wisconsin in 1960. As a graduate student, he received the Rennebohm Award for excellence in teaching.
For 35 years, he was employed at Merck and Co., West Point, Pa., where he held several positions and retired Director of Pharmaceutical Development in 1995. During his career at Merck, he worked on numerous projects including many blockbuster drugs such as Indocin, Sinemet, Dolobid, Mevacor, Pepcid and numerous others. Most of his career was involved in developing formulations for clinical testing, scaling up to production and transferring this technology to various manufacturing plants around the world.
He held seven patents and had 12 publications in his name. He was a registered Pharmacist in Pa. since 1956 and a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.
After retiring in 1995, he joined the International Executive Service Corps and provided two tours of volunteer service helping a major pharmaceutical company in Turkey modernize their R & D department.
A person of many interests, Dr. Dempski was a Horticulture Volunteer at the Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill, Pa., a Founder of the Nockamixon Sailing Club and a Fourth Degree member of Knights of Columbus, Notre Dame Council, Ambler. He also served as Grand Knight from 2000-2002. He was an avid skier since his days on the farm and including his senior years. He enjoyed traveling with his wife, sailboat racing with his children, and Lionel Standard Gauge trains.
He was an amateur genealogist and identified the names of over a thousand relatives, some going back to the late 1700s. He was also a member of St. Alphonsus Church in Maple Glen for 41 years.
He was preceded in death by his brother, Charles.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by three children, Anne and husband John Messner, Ph.D.; Sarah and husband Albert Koch; and Robert E. Dempski Jr. Ph.D. and fiancée Marja Ossenbach; the proud grandfather of Isaac, Joseph and Jacob Messner, and Hannah Koch; the brother of Florence White; and brother-in-law of Norma Dempski; also several nieces and nephews survive.
Relatives and friends are invited to his Funeral Mass on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at St. Alphonsus Church, 33 Conwell Drive, Maple Glen, Pa. The viewing will be Tuesday, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., and Wednesday, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., at the Emil J. Ciavarelli Family Funeral Homes, 951 E. Butler Pike, Ambler, Pa. Interment in Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, Cheltenham.
Memorial contributions in his memory can be made to St. Francis Cabrini Parish, 585 Mount Olivet Rd., Wyoming, PA 18944.