Paul Endres; 1942-2014: BGSU chemist loved the life of a professor

7/4/2014

BOWLING GREEN — Paul Endres of Bowling Green, a professor emeritus at Bowling Green State University, died of cancer June 28 in the Bridge Hospice Care Center in Bowling Green. He was 72.

Mr. Endres retired in 2010 from the university, where he taught chemistry since 1969. He was granted the title of professor emeritus later in 2010.

Mike Zickar, his nephew, who is a psychology professor at BGSU, said Mr. Endres was instrumental in developing the university’‍s science labs and chemistry lab courses. He was a member of the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists.

“He really enjoyed the life of a college professor,” Mr. Zickar said. “He really enjoyed teaching students, especially undergraduate students.”

Mr. Endres was born Feb. 10, 1942, in Peoria, Ill. He graduated from Peoria High School and received a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Bradley University in 1963, and his PhD, also in chemistry, from the University of Rochester in 1968.

Soon after that, he moved to Bowling Green and went to work at BGSU.

Mr. Zickar reminisced about spending a week at his uncle’‍s house in the early 1980s as a teenager, using his uncle’‍s computer to work on chemistry problems at the time when personal computers were rare.

“I enjoyed his professor’‍s mind, the way a professor thinks about a particular topic,” Mr. Zickar said. “He was always trying to understand how the world works, in a rational, unemotional way.”

Mr. Endres married the former Maureen Doyle in 1966, and the couple moved to Bowling Green in 1969. She died Dec. 3, 2013.

“She died unexpectedly, of a stroke,” his nephew said. “That kind of broke his heart.”

In retirement, Mr. Endres enjoyed gardening, growing a variety of herbs and flowers.

Surviving are his sister, Rose Endres, and brother, Leo.

There will be no visitation. Services will be private. Arrangements are by Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home & Crematory, Bowling Green.

Memorial contributions may be made to WBGU-TV, 245 Troup Ave., Bowling Green, OH, 43402.

Contact Mike Sigov at: sigov@theblade.com, 419-724-6089, or on Twitter @mikesigovblade.