Allison Marolen Sikes

Allison Marolen Sikes, a polymer analytical chemist with Eurofins EAG, died unexpectedly October 27, 2022, in St. Louis, Missouri, of complications from a heart attack. Dr. Sikes, a native of West Point, Virginia, was the daughter of Olen and Mary Montague Sikes and sister of Mary Alicia Sikes and Amy Montague Sikes. She was a graduate of West Point High School and studied at Virginia Tech, where she was a member of the Highty-Tighties Corps of Cadets Regimental Band. She received a BS in Chemistry from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and earned a PhD in Polymer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. While at Millsaps College, she studied at St. John's College, University of Oxford in England. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. She holds patents for Spirobislactone Acrylate Polymers and for Spirodilactones as Curing Agents for Epoxy Resins. She co-authored numerous articles in a variety of scientific journals. Dr. Sikes lived previously in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where she was a senior development engineer with Berry Global Corporation (Pliant Corporation). She also lived in Plymouth, Minnesota (Draths Corporation); Newport News, Virginia (Pliant Corporation); Hattiesburg, Mississippi (visiting scientist University of Southern Mississippi); and three cities on the Eastern Seaboard (Senior Chemist, E.I duPont de Nemours & Company). She was a member of the American Chemical Society, ASTM International, American Oil Chemical Society, Institute of Food Technologists, and the Society of Rheology. She was also a member of the Commonwealth Chapter of the DAR in Richmond, VA. A gifted photographer, she carried cameras with her everywhere, especially on National Parks trips. She always loved to travel and explore rugged trails. Her work improved multiple DuPont products, including Stainmaster Carpet. At Pliant/Berry, she worked to develop a special coating for cereal box liners that helps keep cereal fresher longer - a project so secret that she couldn't tell her family anything about it until Kellogg's had patented the product. She also was instrumental in developing the packaging for Birds Eye Steamfresh vegetables. She was often found looking through the family's shelf and frozen food items to see if they had ones from her companies. A Celebration of Life service will be held at a future date.