Glass chemist taught after his retirement from O-I

7/25/2002

TEMPERANCE - Emery J. Hornyak, Jr., 67, a chemist who investigated the properties of glass as a senior research scientist for Owens-Illinois, Inc., died from complications of pneumonia Monday in Toledo Hospital.

Dr. Hornyak retired from O-I in 1992 after 36 years. Afterward, he was a glass technologist about five years for Libbey, Inc., and later was a consultant. “He worked with solving glass quality problems,” his wife, Connie, said.

He researched the thermodynamics of glass and the ways in which different types of metal in glass can affect the material's behavior, his son, Thomas, said.

“He enjoyed thinking about that type of chemistry,” his son said. “He took it beyond his job, where he made it a point to teach thermodynamics and material science” in the 1980s at what is now Owens Community College and the University of Toledo.

Dr. Hornyak published in his field and held a patent, his family said. He was a member of many professional and technical groups and was a former director of the Toledo area Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.

His interest in chemistry took root when he was a student at Central Catholic High School. He received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and master's of chemistry degree from the University of Toledo. He returned to school in the late 1960s and received a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Hornyak was a charter member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Temperance, and a former church council president.

Surviving are his wife, Connie, whom he married Nov. 22, 1958; sons, Dr. Thomas and Robert; daughter, Jean Ann Hornyak; brother, Richard, and four grandchildren.

The body will be in the Bedford Funeral Chapel, Temperance, after 7 tonight. Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. The family requests tributes to the church's CYO teams.