Kern County CA Archives Obituaries.....Rostler , Kathleen Spencer September 1, 2005 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: K T bluewolf@onemain.com September 25, 2005, 7:47 pm The Bakersfield Californian Rostler, Kathleen Spencer 1916 - 2005 Kathleen Spencer Rostler April 24, 1916 - Sept. 1, 2005 Kathleen Rostler died Sept. 1, 2005. A friendly, modest, extremely capable person, always willing to help with any job, her death is a loss to all who knew her. Born April 24, 1916 to Robert Spencer from Vermont, and Gertrude Levering, from the Moravian community in Bethlehem PA, Kay was a premature baby who wasnt expected to live, but she lived to be 89 and remained alert, aware and independent to the end. She went to college at a time when most women didnt. Although a small, slightly built woman, she played field hockey in college. An accomplished violinist interested in chemistry, she had decide which of the two to pursue as a career. She earned a BA in Chemistry with Honors from the University of Delaware in 1937 and an MA in chemistry from Connecticut College in 1939. Kay met Dr. Fritz Rostler, an organic chemist and refugee from Austria, at the Wilmington Chemical Corp., which had been started to develop his inventions. Besides setting up a testing lab and creating a chemical library, Kays job, because she knew both chemistry and German, was to help Fritz write papers in English. They were married in 1940 and their first child, Peter, was born in 1945. In 1947 they moved to California, settling in Bakersfield when Fritz was hired as a Research Director by Golden Bear Oil Co. Four years later, their second child, Barbara, was born. For many years Kay ran her own business, The Rubber Formulary. She collected data on rubber compounds from journals and summarized it on 5x8 cards coded for important properties by notches in holes around the edges, so the cards could be sorted with a needle. Kay often corresponded with authors to get additional data. A pack of cards was sent monthly to about 100 subscribers all over the world. At the same time, Kay was an avid gardener, a Cub Scout Den Mother and a leader in Brownies. She shuttled her children to swimming, music and dance lessons. Kay remained active professionally, publishing papers, giving talks at meetings, and even coauthoring a chapter in book (Rubber Technology, 2nd ed., M. Morton, ed., Van Nostrand, 1973). In 1964 Fritz and Kay moved to the San Francisco area where they both worked for an engineering consulting firm in Oakland and built a house in the Berkeley hills. After they retired, they moved back to Bakersfield where Fritz died in 1988. After his passing, Kay moved to Rosewood Retirement Community where she became an active member, running their mini-mart and serving as treasurer of the Residents Council. She was a member of the First Congregational Church of Bakersfield. She had suffered for years from emphysema. On her last day, after enjoying the company of two of her grandchildren, she died peacefully in her sleep. Predeceased by her husband Fritz and her sister Marion Dressler of Atlanta GA, she leaves her sister Roberta Crouch of Dayton OH, her son Peter Rostler of Newton, MA her daughter Barbara Zimmerman of Mt, Vernon WA, and four grandchildren, Jeanne and Austin Troncao and Philip and Adam Rostler. Legacy.com Published in the Bakersfield Californian on 9/25/2005. Additional Comments: Volunteer submission - No relation to deceased. Obituaries http://www.legacy.com/bakersfield/LegacyHome.asp File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/kern/obits/r/rostler177gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 3.9 Kb