Obituary of Irja Piirma

STOW – Irja (nee Tiits) Piirma, Ph.D., died Dec. 5, 2009.   Born in Tallinn, Estonia she left her homeland during World War II for Germany, where she and her husband survived the Dresden fire-bombing in 1945 and as a post-war displaced person, she completed a diploma in chemistry from Technische Hochshule Darmstadt and immigrated to the U.S. in 1949. She received an M.S. in Chemistry in 1957 and became the first woman granted a Ph.D. from The University of Akron in 1960. As professor of Polymer Science at U of A, she spent her career advising masters and doctoral students. A lifetime member of the American Chemical Society, she published in many professional journals and her 1992 book Polymeric Surfactants remains in print.  She was a Stow resident for over 50 years and a member of St. Stephen Lutheran Church.   Preceded in death by her husband Aleksander in 2002, she is survived by her daughters, Margit Codispoti of Fort Wayne, IN; Silvia (Gerald) Dolson of Stow; grandchildren, Emilie (Lee) Fairbanks, Adrianne (Eric) Hays, Alika Codispoti, Andrew and Peter Dolson; great-granddaughter Kendall Hays.   Friends may call Thursday 2-4 & 7-9 PM at Redmon Funeral Home. Funeral service 10 AM Friday at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 3725 Kent Rd., Stow, Rev. Arthur Cubbon officiating.  Burial Stow Cemetery, Memorials may be made to The Irja & Aleksander Piirma Fellowship in Polymer Science care of the Dept. of Dev. The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-2603. Dr. Piirma's video tribute may be seen here.