Dr. Murray Senkus

Murray Senkus, 95, died at Arbor Acres Retirement Community, in his room in the Fitzgerald Center in Winston-Salem, NC on Thursday, November 12, 2009, at 10:54 AM. Murray's parents emigrated from what is now Ukraine and settled on a homestead near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada around 1900. He was born there on August 31, 1914. After finishing high school, he enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan, where he obtained his Master of Science degree in 1936. He then emigrated to the United States and while teaching chemistry at North Park University in Chicago he enrolled in the Graduate School of the University of Chicago where he obtained his Ph.D. degree in chemistry in 1938. That same year he was employed as a research chemist by Commercial Solvents Corporation in Terre Haute, Indiana. The Research Department of the Company was involved in various defense projects during WWII. His research on these projects, such as synthetic rubber and anti-vesicants, made a significant contribution to the war effort. His most important achievement during this period was the development of a process to stabilize penicillin. The commercial product at that time was unstable at ordinary temperatures, hence could not be stored without refrigeration. Murray's crystallization process made it possible to store penicillin at ordinary temperatures, thereby making it available for use on the battlefield, hence saving many lives. After the war, Murray developed a process for the production of synthetic rubber, and a process for isolation of bacitracin from its broth. Turning to organic synthesis, he synthesized many useful new compounds, such as hexetidine, an antiseptic, and hexedine, an antibacterial. In 1951, he was employed as the Director of the Chemical Division of the newly established Research Department of R J Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem. In 1964 he was promoted to the position of Director of Research. In 1977 he was appointed as Director of Scientific Affairs. He retired from the company at age 65 in 1979. After retirement, he consulted for the Tobacco Institute in Washington, D.C. From 1983 to 1987 he was employed by P T Djarum, as Director of Development, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Upon his return to Winston-Salem in 1987, Murray was employed as a special litigation consultant on technical matters, finally going into full retirement in 2001. Dr Senkus' fields of specialization were spectroscopy, synthetic organic chemistry, insecticides, recovery of fermentation products, chemotherapeutic agents, chemistry of flavorants, and management of research and development. He authored 20 scientific articles and holds 57 US patents and several foreign patents. He is listed in WHO'S WHO in America, Achievers. Murray was a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, Coresta, the Gamma Alpha Scientific Fraternity, the Tobacco Science Research Conference, the Tobacco Working Group, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sigma Xi Society, the Shevchenko Scientific Society, and a highly recognized Seventy-Year Member of the American Chemical Society. He keenly enjoyed his sixty-plus-year membership in Toastmasters International, an organization that helps members to develop communication, public speaking and leadership skills. He joined Toastmasters in 1947, and having become keenly aware of its benefits, he helped to charter new clubs in Indiana, Illinois, North Carolina and Indonesia.. Throughout his business and personal visits to cities in Canada, England, and Japan he always spread the word about Toastmasters. During his employment at Reynolds, Murray was a member of the Forsyth Country Club and Kiwanis. He also played an active role in the merging of the City and the County School Systems and on various committees of the Business Bureau. Upon their arrival in Winston-Salem in 1951, the Senkus family joined what is now Centenary United Methodist Church. There Murray helped to organize the Whitefield Class (now the Whitefield Foundations Class) in the Sunday School. Murray was especially proud of his Ukrainian heritage, and worked with various Ukrainian organizations for the spread of knowledge about Ukrainian language and history. He traveled to Ukraine regularly from 1969 to 2005. He was recognized for his contributions and achievements in 2001, when he was awarded the Nation Builders Award of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. Dr Senkus was predeceased by his first wife Emily. Surviving are their four children, Neal, Bill, Joanne, and David. Neal and wife Kathy have three children - Suzanne, Stephen, and Philip. Suzanne has a significant other, Eric Hess. Stephen and wife Katy have three children, William, Zachary and Nicholas. Philip and wife Susan have three children, Lily, Andrew and Reid. Philip has a daughter, Darya, from a previous marriage. Daughter Joanne is married to Bob Prior. Son David and former wife Kay have three children - Jeremy, Jeffrey, and Jessica. Jeremy and Linda Core have one daughter, Zoey. Jeff is married to Martha. Jessica has a significant other, Chris Hodges. Jessica has a son, Tyler, from a previous marriage. Murray was predeceased by his second wife Ethel. Surviving are her two daughters - Kathy Hylton and Trish Decker. Kathy and late husband Warren reared three sons. David and wife Kim have two sons. Jeffrey and wife Alycea have three children. Greg and wife April have three children. Trish and husband Dan have three daughters - Summer, Kady, and Sunshine. Sunshine and husband Peter have two daughters. Summer is married to David Branch. The family has requested that donations in memory of Dr Murray Senkus be made to: ---Centenary United Methodist Church, Winston-Salem, NC ---University of Saskatchewan Graystone Heritage Trust, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada ---University of Chicago Development Trust, Chicago, Illinois The family will receive friends at Hayworth-Miller Funeral Home at 3315 Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem on Friday November 20th from 4-7pm. Funeral service will be held at Forsyth Memorial Park Cemetery, 3771 Yadkinville Rd in Winston-Salem, on Saturday, November 21st at 2pm at the Chapel overlooking the lake. The Reverend Jack Yarbrough of Centenary United Methodist Church will be presiding.

Memorials:
Centenary United Methodist Church, Winston-Salem, NCUniversity of Saskatchewan Graystone Heritage Trust, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CanadaUniversity of Chicago Development Trust, Chicago, Illinois

Cemetery:
Forsyth Memorial Park

Visitation:
04:00pm - 07:00pm on November 20, 2009 at Silas Creek Chapel

Service:
Service at 02:00pm on November 21, 2009 at Forsyth Memorial Park Mausoleum Chapel