Obituaries
John Osmun
John V. Osmun passed away in West Lafayette, Indiana, on 13 October 2012 at the age
of 94. He was born on 22 February 1918
to Albert V. and Lena Lattimer Osmun
in Amherst, Massachusetts, where he
was raised. He married Dorothy “Dottie”
Morley Osmun on 11 July 1942, and later
adopted a daughter. Dottie preceded him
in death in 1999.
John was destined to be an entomologist. His first memory of insects was
reaching out from his perambulator to
take a caterpillar from his older brother.
He became a passionate insect collector,
and at the age of 13, he learned an important lesson about the dangers of pesticides.
While hiking in the Massachusetts woods,
his buddies found him passed out on the
trail. John didn’t realize that the killing
jar in his pocket, charged with potassium
cyanide, had cracked when he slipped
and fell earlier that day. He was taken
to a local doctor who found nothing to
treat and released him. John continued
to have persistent headaches until days
later, when another doctor figured out
what happened and eventually treated the
acid burns on his leg—scars John carried
proudly his entire life.
John earned a B.S. from Massachusetts
State College (now the University of Massachusetts) in 1940, an M.A. in biology working on Drosophila genetics from Amherst
College in 1942, and a Ph.D. in Entomology
based on termites and insecticides from
the University of Illinois in 1956, while he
was a member of the faculty at Purdue.
He joined the U.S. Army in 1942, and for
three years was the Chief Entomologist
in the First Army Command stationed in
Governor’s Island, NY. Following the war,
he worked for Merck Chemical Company
as a research entomologist developing
and testing new insecticides. There he
met Bill Buettner, an owner of a pest control company and executive secretary of
the National Association of Exterminators
and Fumigators (later the National Pest
American Entomologist • Volume 59, Number 2
John V. Osmun 1918–2012
Management Association).
In 1948, J.J. Davis, then head of the
Department of Entomology at Purdue University and close friend of Bill Buettner,
courted John to join the faculty as assistant
professor. He was hired to develop a new
curriculum in Urban and Industrial Pest
Management—the first in the U.S.—and
teach the courses. He became department
head after finishing his Ph.D. in 1956 and
served in that capacity until 1972. During
his tenure as department head, the depart
ment experienced tremendous growth
and laid the foundation for the present
department.
John took leave from Purdue from 197375 to work in Washington, D.C., first with
the USDA Cooperative States Research
Service, and later as director of operations in the Office of Pesticide Programs
for EPA. He returned to Purdue and the
Department of Entomology in 1975 and
served as the coordinator of the Purdue
pesticide programs until he retired in 1987
as Professor Emeritus.
During his career, John served on and
led many national committees, task forces,
and commissions associated with pesticide
education and training. He was an active
member of the Entomological Society of
America (ESA) for half a century. He served
as president of the North Central Branch
in 1964, but made his biggest contributions
at the national level, where he served as
a member on the Insecticide Terminology Committee (1963) and the Governing
Board (1970-73), and held chairmanships
of the Resolution (1956), Finance (1956),
and Professional Training, Standards
and Status (PTSS, 1968-71) committees.
As chairman of the PTSS, he helped lead
the formation of the American Registry of
Professional Entomologists (ARPE) in 1970,
and as a self-governing and self-sustaining
functional unit of ESA in 1975. He served
as the second president of ARPE in 1978.
He was founder, member, president in
1958 and Distinguished Award winner in
1972 of Phi Chi Omega. He was an honorary member of the National Pest Management Association and six state pest
management associations, and Fellow
of the Indiana Academy of Science. He
received the Distinguished Service Award
of ARPE (1980), was elected an Honorary
Member (1985) and Fellow (1991) of the
Entomological Society of America, named
Professional of the Year by Pest Control
Technology magazine (1991), and received
the University of Massachusetts Alumni
Distinguished Achievement Award (1995).
He was an inaugural inductee into the Pest
Control Hall of Fame in 1997.
John’s fondness for Purdue alumni in
entomology spawned the establishment
in 1987 of the annual alumni recognition
award known as the “John V. Osmun Professional Achievement Award in Entomology.” His distinguished career also
led alumni and friends to establish the
J.V. Osmun endowed professorship in the
Department of Entomology.
Few can claim to have had so much
impact on the department, the discipline
of entomology, and the urban pest management industry. It was somehow fitting that the National Pest Management
Association held their annual meeting the
same week as John’s funeral. He leaves a
legacy in many areas, but his attention
and dedication to students and alumni
was exceptional.
John is survived by his second wife,
125
Dortha Parker Osmun, and his daughter,
Jodi Pickart. He was preceded in death by
a brother, Kenneth Osmun, and granddaughter, Jill Suzanne Pickart.
J. Steve Yaninek and Christian Y. Oseto
Philip F. Torchio
Philip F. Torchio was born on 14 May
1933 in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in
San Jose, California. He served in the army
in the late 1950s, primarily at Fort Baker
(in the San Francisco Bay area) in medical
entomology. He earned an undergraduate degree at San Jose State College and
performed his graduate studies at Oregon
State University under Dr. Bill Stephen in
the 1960s. In Corvallis, he started formal
research on bees. Much of his work was
devoted to having the alkali bee accepted
as an alternative pollinator of alfalfa seed in
Oregon, Washington, and California. Some
of his Ph.D. work involved the cuticular
invaginations of the prosterna of bumblebees in relation to phylogeny. Before
formalizing this research into a degree,
however, he accepted a position at the
USDA–ARS Pollinating Insect Research
Insect Research Unit headhouse
Unit in Logan, Utah,
in 1994; and organizing the first
in 1962. He married
international workshop on nonDolores Damiano in
Apis bees and their role as crop
1967, forming a family with her three
pollinators in 1992. This conference drew 120 participants
children, Leslie,
from 18 countries. In 1990, he
Michael, and Julie.
was given the C. W. Woodworth
Phil’s decadesaward, which recognizes indilong, unwavering
viduals in the Pacific branch of
fascination with the
the Entomological Society of
how and why of bees
America who have made signifand how to best fit
icant advances in entomology.
them to crop pollination needs has
Philip F. Torchio 1933–2013
Phil retired from the Logan
left a lasting legacy
bee lab in January of 1997 after
at the Logan bee lab. To this day, anyone publishing over 80 articles. He continued
working with solitary bees still refers to
consulting with other scientists and those
his inaugural studies and thorough examinterested in commercializing alternative
inations in the laboratory and in the field.
pollinators, as well as collecting bees and
The Logan bee lab continues to perform
observing bee behavior. Later, he transexcellent bee research, due in part to his ferred his extensive insect collection to
the Logan bee lab. After retirement, he
leadership and professional endeavors.
focused more on family matters. In support
Phil’s many projects included the increasing use of alternative pollinators in U.S.
of this, he and Dolores moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2001 to be near
crops (for example, the development of
their daughter and grandchildren. He and
Osmia lignaria for almond and fruit crops);
Dolores remained there until his death on
biological, structural, and behavioral studies of numerous bee species and their 26 March 2013.
parasites; building the current Pollinating
Glen Trostle
Join in ESA’s 2013
‘Each One, Reach One’ Membership Campaign
• Strengthen your Society
• Expand your network
• Help others succeed in their careers
• Build your Branch and Section
• Display your leadership abilities
• Receive recognition & prizes
Share the benefits of ESA membership with your colleagues, associates and friends.
And earn prizes for your efforts!
Grand Prize
iPad mini
The more new members you recruit, the more chances
you have to win the iPad & other prizes!
Visit www.entsoc.org/EachOneReachOne for details
Sharing Insect Science Globally • www.entsoc.org
126
American Entomologist • Summer 2013