George David Mendenhall

He was born to George and Eathel Mendenhall February 12, 1945 in Iowa City, Iowa. Since his father was in the US Navy at that time, he did not meet his father until he was almost 1 year old.

David, as he was known to friends and family, was the eldest of five sons, and lived in Springfield, Ohio until his parents moved permanently to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1952.

David excelled in his academic pursuits in high school and college; earning a national Merit scholarship, winning the southeastern Michigan High School science fair, and was the high school class salutatorian. During his high school years, he performed basic chemical work at Parke Davis in Ann Arbor, and was proud of the fact that he bicycled to work, a distance of over 12 miles one way.

After high school he attended the University of Michigan, obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 1967. After matriculating from the University of Michigan, he pursued a PhD in chemistry from Harvard where he received his degree in 1970.

After receiving his PhD he obtained a post-doc fellowship to work at the National Research Council in Ottawa, Ontario, where he met his future wife, Yvonne Hendricks, whom he married in 1972.

The couple then moved to California where he worked at the Stanford Research Institute and moved to Columbus, Ohio to work at Batelle Labs in 1975. His two children, Catherine Astrid and George Stuart were born in Columbus.

In 1980, David received a professorship at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, where he taught and performed research until 2001. After retiring from teaching, he founded Northern Sources, a chemical manufacturing and research company based in Hancock, Michigan. Shortly after this venture was started, his wife Yvonne of 28 years died of cancer.

David’s next chapter was a move to New York, where he renamed his company “Eastern Sources” and married Ying Dong in 2006. His life-long fascination with chemical preparations continued in his manufacturing of compounds and materials that were too complicated and complex for most other companies to make. David’s keen mind and analytical skills were second to none.

David developed multiple myeloma and various other afflictions in the last three years which impacted his company’s production. The successive treatments for his cancer led to a stroke earlier this year, and then he was overwhelmed with an infection which eventually led to his death.

David will be remembered for his keen mind, wonderful wit, generosity, and charming personality. As the member of Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran and the tallest member of the Chinese church that he regularly attended with his wife, David was fondly remembered by the congregants.

He was an internationalist, having lived in Jerusalem, Jordan, Freiburg, Germany, and having travelled frequently to China and east Asia. As a professor, David mentored hundreds of students in chemistry whose careers were impacted by his generosity and insight.

David is survived by his wife, Ying Dong; children, George Stuart of San Diego and Catherine Astrid (Brownstein) of Boston; step-daughter Jennifer Schumacher and her husband Scott Schumacher; son-in-law, John Brownstein; grandchildren, Jackson and Caroline Brownstein, and brothers Lauri, Stanley, Gordon, and Stephen.

Internment will take place in Ann Arbor, Michigan at a future date.