Charlotte Mertz Witmer, Ph.D., age 92, a resident of Wilder, Vermont, died on October 15, 2013, after a period of declining health. Charlotte, who, in her youth, was given the nickname "Twit" by some close school friends, lived a full, a vibrant life as a biochemist and toxicologist and as an advisor to numerous graduate students in biochemistry at Rutgers, The State University in of New Jersey, and Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
Before moving to Harvest Hill in Lebanon, NH, in 2006 and then to Valley Terrace in Wilder, VT, in early 2013, Charlotte was a long-time resident of the Borough of Trappe in Collegeville, PA. She served as an associate professor within the College of Pharmacy at Rutgers from 1981 until her 1996 retirement, and continued to consult in her field for a number of years thereafter. Prior to her time at Rutgers, Charlotte served as an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Jefferson Medical College and as a research assistant at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. While at Jefferson, she especially valued the seven months she spent working with Dr. Herbert Remmer at the Institute of Toxikologie in Tübingen, Germany. Early in her career, Charlotte spent three years as a visiting fellow at the Postgraduate Medical College in London, England, and she also worked as an analytical chemist for several chemical and pharmaceutical companies.
Charlotte traveled extensively in the United States and Europe to participate in or present at scientific conferences. She co-edited several key texts in her field, including Biological Reactive Intermediates: Chemical Mechanisms and Biological Effects (Volumes I and II) and Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology: Cytochromes P-450 and b5. She also authored or co-authored numerous research papers, scientific reviews, and journal articles in her field, including many papers on aspects of cytochrome P-450, chromium, and benzene.
As a well-known researcher and teacher in her field, Charlotte received significant recognition for her work and was active in numerous professional organizations, including Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. With her outgoing personality, she especially enjoyed organizing and chairing scientific discussion groups and symposia, which enhanced collegial communications and fostered the pursuit of cutting-edge research.
Charlotte graduated from Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA, in 1942 and received the degrees of Master of Science (1963) and Doctor of Philosophy (1973) in biochemistry from Villanova University. She also did graduate work at Syracuse University. She loved history, literature, travel, and life-long learning, and also enjoyed guiding and nurturing young people, whether as a Girl Scout leader in Collegeville, a mentor to numerous graduate students in biochemistry and toxicology, or as a doting aunt and great aunt. She lived each day with energy and never hesitated to share her opinions on science, travel, history and current events. Family and friends have fond memories of her love of life, quirky ways, and wry humor, as well as her devotion to scientific research and to her church, community, and ancestral home in New Berlin, PA. The "Auntie Mame" of her family, Charlotte's nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephew experienced outings and travels with "Aunt Twit" as unparalleled and memorable adventures. With little advanced planning involved, trips were filled with spontaneity, laughter, and always the unexpected.
Charlotte was predeceased by her parents Martin Weaver Witmer and Laura Aurand Witmer and by her sister Dorothy Witmer Kinney. She is survived by Dorothy's five children: nieces Anne Kinney of Auburn, Maine, Gail Kinney and her husband John Murray of Canaan, NH, Leslie Kinney and her husband Michael Landis of Guilford, VT, and nephews Charles Kinney and his wife Cathy of Santa Fe, NM, and David Kinney and his wife Kate Waldo of Stayton, OR. She is also survived by great nieces Lisa Kinney Helvin, Ellen Kinney Winston, Christine Kinney, Beth Kinney Lovell, Daphne Kinney-Landis and Dorothy Kinney-Landis, by great nephew Scott Kinney, and by a number of treasured friends and scientific colleagues. She was thrilled, in August 2011, by the birth of her great grand niece, Marina Charlotte Helvin, whose middle name honors her great grand aunt.
Memorial contributions may be made to The Historical Society of Trappe, Collegeville and the Perkiomen Valley, Inc. (P.O. Box 26708, Collegeville, PA 19426-0708); the Trinity Reformed United Church of Christ (532 East Main Street, Collegeville, PA 19426-2158) or the New Berlin, PA Heritage Association, (400 Market Street, PO Box 223, New Berlin, PA 17855).
A celebration of Charlotte's life will be held in spring 2014 in Pennsylvania.