Raymond Keefer: Pioneering chemist

Raymond Keefer, an emeritus professor of chemistry with a long and distinguished career in research, teaching and service at UC Davis, died on Feb. 6, in Davis, after a brief illness. He was 95.

The first student to obtain a Ph.D. in chemistry at UC Davis, Keefer went on to spend 40 years on the campus’s faculty. During his 12-year tenure as chemistry department chair, the unit experienced its greatest period of growth. When he was appointed chair in 1962, the department was home to 13 faculty members and some 20 graduate students. By the time he stepped down 12 years later, those numbers had soared to 35 faculty members and close to 70 graduate students. Between 1960 and 1966 alone, the number of Chemistry 1A laboratory sections the department offered skyrocketed from 12 to 42.

Keefer’s research focused principally on chemical complexes. In close collaboration with Lawrence Andrews, a professor of chemistry and longtime dean of the College of Letters and Science, he conducted extensive research on the hitherto poorly understood interactions of the halogens and metallic ions with aromatic hydrocarbons in solution, in particular the rates, mechanisms, and equilibria of the various reactions.

The results of the team’s work have contributed to a number of fields of research, from development of pharmaceutical compounds to the search for new types of fuels. Their book, Molecular Complexes in Organic Chemistry, was published by Holden Day in 1964.

Keefer is survived by his wife of 66 years, Hilda Keefer, of Davis, and their daughter Katherine Keefer, who is currently living in India, son James Keefer and wife Kathie of Grass Valley, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son, Raymond Marsh Keefer Jr., and his brother, John Alfred Keefer.

Arrangements for a memorial service will be announced at a later date. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, contributions in Keefer’s memory be made to the Department of Chemistry. Checks should be made payable to UC Regents with a notation on the memo line “For the Raymond Keefer memorial fund.” They can be mailed to Carlito Lebrilla, chair, Department of Chemistry, UC Davis 95616.

Carol Eberhart: Spanish instructor won hearts

Carol Woodward Eberhart, a Spanish language lecturer from 1982 to 1996, died Feb. 11 from cancer. She was 53.

She earned her doctorate in Spanish literature from UC Davis in 1991. Eberhart’s dissertation was on the acclaimed Spanish novelist Carmen Martin Gaite.

Spanish professor Marta Altisent said Eberhart’s colleagues and students remember “her cheerfulness and her courage as she relentlessly fulfilled her duties” while undergoing many painful surgeries to improve her chronic rheumatoid arthritic disabilities.

“We treasure how Carol Eberhart brighten and graced our lives with a gentleness and bravery that became legendary in the Spanish department,” said Altisent.

Eberhart also served as an adjunct professor at American River College and California State University, Sacramento.Among other recognitions, she was selected Outstanding Alumnus of California State University in 2000. In 2003, she received the Glencoe-McGraw-Hill Outstanding Teacher Leader Award for the state of California, and in 2006 she was chosen as Outstanding Teacher of the Year for the Foreign Language Association of Greater Sacramento.

Eberhart, who lived all her life in the Carmichael area, is survived by her husband George Eberhart.

“She died in my arms,” Eberhart told The Sacramento Bee. “I looked over and I held her. I said, ‘It’s OK to leave. I will be all right.’”