Robert Breton Chiasson Ph.D.

Robert Breton (Bob) Chiasson PhD died peacefully at home November 23, 2011 at the age of 86, after waging a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was born in Griggsville, IL on October 9, 1925, the youngest of three children. His brother, Marshall and sister, Mary, are now deceased. He graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1943 and, after a summer at Loyola University (Chicago), entered the US Army, in which he served for three years during World War II. Bob married Frances Kientzle in the fall of 1944, shortly before being sent overseas where he participated in the Battle of Central Germany. Following his discharge from the Army in 1946, Bob enrolled at Illinois College (Jacksonville) graduating in 1949 with a BA; he earned his MS in Zoology from the University of Illinois in 1950. He served for one year as a supervisor at the Illinois State Museum before joining the faculty at the University of Arizona in 1951. In 1956, following a year's leave from the U of A, he earned his PhD in biological sciences from Stanford University. He returned to Arizona, where he was awarded full professorship in 1965, ultimately serving 42 years there. Bob was a prolific researcher in many areas of anatomy and physiology and published his findings in over fifty scientific publications in various academic journals. He wrote and illustrated nineteen laboratory manuals, many of which are still being used at colleges and universities throughout the United States. He also served as an editor for the Wm. C. Brown publishing company (since acquired by McGraw Hill). His sabbatical and Fulbright leaves included: Ghana, West Africa (1969-70), Edinburgh, Scotland (1976-77) and Laboratorium voor Eco-Fysiology Le Leuven, Belgium (1985). In addition to his wife of 67 years, Bob is survived by eight children, Phyllis (Hal Leskinen), Robert (Margaret), Sarah (Tom Letnes), John, William (Carol), Mary (Michael Clark), Annette (Robert Vagts) and Laura; as well as 14 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. We will all miss him. Arrangements by ADAIR FUNERAL HOMES, Dodge Chapel.