John Charles Kirschman died at age 88 on July 5, 2016. He was born on January 30, 1928, to George H. Kirschman and Jenny (Jane) Iobst Kirschman in Emmaus, PA. He was to live in New Jersey, Illinois, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Delaware, New York, and North Carolina before once again making his home in Emmaus, after he retired.  He attended Muhlenberg College, graduating in 1948 with a B.S. in Chemistry. After graduating, he took a job in New Brunswick, NJ, at the Atomic Energy Commission, where he met his wife, Barbara, when they were both working as analytical chemists. They married on Nov. 18, 1950, before moving to Chicago to take up John's commission in the U.S. Air Force. From there, John was posted to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, OK. After his service, he obtained his M.S. in chemistry at Oklahoma State University in 1955 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, in 1960. When working for Atlas Chemical in Wilmington, DE, in the 1960s, John set up one of the earliest computer-automated labs. In 1968, he moved to Pleasantville, NY, to start his career in food toxicology at General Foods. He was a founder of national and international groups such as the Toxicology Forum and the International Life Sciences Institute. After he moved back to Emmaus and then to Allentown (after Barbara passed away), John was still an innovator. He started a croquet club; he was a member of the Emmaus Rotary, the Shelter House Society, the Emmaus Historical Society, and the Emmaus Moravian Church; and he spearheaded the planning and execution of the Emmaus 250th Anniversary Celebration. At Luther Crest in Allentown, he created the first residents' directory and effected the installation of closed-circuit TV so that homebound residents could enjoy programs put on in Crest Hall. He did all these things with a ready smile and a joke (or five) on hand, and his irrepressible good humor and love will be missed by all.

Survivors: Daughters, Mary Lane of Allendale, N.J., Jane Kirschman of Round Rock, Texas, Donna Kirschman of Flemington, N.J.; sister-in-law, Mary Franklin of Amesbury, MA; six grandchildren; one great grandchild.