Gustav Otto Kuhn

Gustav Otto Kuhn, age 97, passed peacefully into the glorious presence of his Lord Jesus Christ on Friday, February 24, 2023, at his home in Louisburg, KS.

Visitation will be held from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, Saturday, March 11, 2023, at Grace Bible Church, 19855 Antioch Rd., Bucyrus, KS 66013. Funeral service will be held at 11:00 am also at the church. Private family internment will take place at the Aubry Cemetery.

Born September 18, 1925 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, he was the oldest child to Max and Emilie Selma (Orban) Kuhn. Graduating from Cuyahoga Falls High School, Gus immediately enrolled in the year-round accelerated chemistry program at Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL in June 1943. His studies were interrupted two months before graduation, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps. Because the war had ended, he was discharged early in April 1947. Finishing his college studies, he graduated in August of that year.

Just as he began studies toward a PhD. in biochemistry at the University of Iowa, Gus was stricken with polio in his left leg. For seven weeks he received experimental treatment at the university hospital where researchers were studying the disease. Thanks to their treatment, he regained most of the use of his leg.

In January 1948, Gus began his career as an analytical chemist at the metallurgical laboratories of the Gardner-Denver Co., Quincy, IL where he worked as an analyst and researcher for over 5 years. In December, he married his college sweetheart, Cornelia L. Voget, of Pasadena, CA. In May of 1954, he joined the Agricultural Research Laboratories of the Pfizer Company in Terre Haute, IN and worked as a research chemist on animal health applications of vitamins and antibiotics until the facilities were closed in 1961. He subsequently joined the Quaker Oats Co. Research Laboratories in Barrington, IL as a Project Leader, and a year later was promoted to the position of Chief Chemist of the Analytical Services group which he held for 12 years. In 1973, he was asked to form a special analytical chemistry group to address difficult manufacturing problems and to provide technical support and testimony in court for legal issues brought against the company.

Due to a major management upheaval at Quaker in 1978, his group was dissolved. He then joined the Midwest Research Institute of Kansas City, MO as a senior chemist, doing analytical research under a program with the National Cancer Institute. During those years, he developed a highly successful process for microencapsulating very toxic chemicals in a food grade matrix for toxicology studies. The Institute subsequently built a special pilot plant to produce experimental quantities for use in animal studies to evaluate their carcinogenic potential. In 1986 the Institute awarded Gus their Achievement Award for this development.

Over the course of his career, Gus published 19 technical papers on his research, coauthored chapters in two technical books and gave numerous lectures of his technical work. He was a member of the American Chemical Society and was active in the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, developing and validating analytical methods. He retired from Midwest Research Institute in May of 1990.

Along with his chemical career, Gus was very active in Christian ministries wherever he lived. He served on the boards of Child Evangelism Fellowship and Mid America Mission, Inc., for many years, as well as on the boards of the churches he helped establish. He took great delight in the fact that in each community where he has worked, he was instrumental in getting an evangelical, Bible believing church established, the most recent of which is in Stilwell, KS where he served as an Elder, Treasurer and Deacon, besides teaching for many years. In three of those communities, he played a significant role in building the church buildings. Gus’ favorite pastime was gardening, and it gave him joy to share the food it produced with neighbors and friends. He was the “Mr. Fix It” of his neighborhood, often repairing mowers and other machines for neighbors and friends.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Cornelia (who died in 1965), his second wife, Eunice and his sister Elizabeth Peck.

He is survived by four children: Margaret Shreve (Donald), Catherine Brown, Dorothy Garvin (John), and Daniel Kuhn (Sherry), 9 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren, and two sisters; Louise Kerkhof and Gertrude Forsberg.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions be made payable to “Mid America Mission, Inc.”, c/o Dengel & Son Mortuary, PO Box 669, Louisburg, KS 66053.