Obituary of Edward Leo Albenesius

AIKEN, SC-- Edward Leo Albenesius was born in Charleston, S.C., 27 November 1927, the son of Theodore Henry Albenesius, Sr. and Margaret (Barrett) Albenesius. He died 2 April 2020.

He was educated in the Catholic Parochial schools of Charleston and graduated from Bishop England High School in 1944.  He enrolled in the College of Charleston which was then a small municipal college in downtown Charleston.   There he majored in Chemistry, graduating in 1947 with an AB degree.   He was an avid reader of scientific texts with a lifelong fascination for chemistry.  He was encouraged by the chemistry professors of the college to enter graduate school.  He did so and was accepted into the University of North Carolina in 1947 and was granted a laboratory assistantship.   In 1949 he was awarded a fellowship by the Atomic Energy Commission for two years which allowed him to complete his doctoral program in organic chemistry in 1951.

He joined the DuPont Company which was in the process of building the Savannah River Plant near Aiken, S.C. for the U.S. government.  He reported for work there in 1952.   His first assignment was with a small group of scientists under the direction of W.C. Reinig, measuring the background radiation levels of the two-hundred-thousand-acre plant site environment prior to the startup of operations and production of nuclear materials. 

In 1958 he transferred to the Savannah River Laboratory which was the research arm of the site supporting plant processes.  He worked in the research laboratory for the next 20 years serving as a research manager of several small groups of technical personnel in analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry and radioactive waste management.

In the latter part of his career he had two prestigious travel opportunities.  The first was a two-year assignment on-loan to the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C. to coordinate an overhaul of the commission’s regulations relative to radioactive wastes.  The second was to Vienna, Austria for a one-year temporary consulting assignment in radioactive waste management with the International Atomic Energy Agency.   He was accompanied by his wife Lucy on both assignments.   They reminisced fondly many times about how special these late-career travel opportunities were. 

Ed was a member of the American Chemical Society throughout his career.  He was also the inaugural recipient of the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness (CNTA) in 1996 for his discovery of tritium as a product of the fission of uranium-235 in a process known as tertiary fission.

His hobbies included gardening (Clemson Master Gardner) and exploring the tidal creeks around Edisto Island and the ACE Basin.  For most of his adult life he was an avid boater but he loved fishing in the surf or pulling a seine net just as much as he loved boating. 

While studying at UNC he met fellow student Lucy Evans who he married in 1952.  He is survived by his wife Lucy, and three of their five children: Phillip William (Martha), Aiken; Kathryn Ann Dannelly (husband Gary, deceased), Columbia and Andrew Barrett, Aiken.   Their first-born daughter (Lucy Margaret) and son (Edward Robert) are deceased.   He had nine grandchildren, Sarah Thomason Stauffer, Rachel Thomason Loose, William Evans Albenesius, Andrew Payne Albenesius, Edward Gordon Dannelly, Annabel Jackson Dannelly, Hannah Barrett Albenesius (deceased), Laura Teague Albenesius and Grace Isabel Albenesius, and five great-grandchildren, Cate Hoffmeyer, Maddox Stauffer, and Micah, Jonah and Rita Loose.  Everyone should be so blessed.

Memorials may be given to St. Mary Help of Christians Church of Aiken, S.C. or the Columbia, S.C. division of Talking Books (P.O. Box 821, Columbia, S.C. 29202).

Due to health concerns surrounding COVID-19, services will be private.

The Historic George Funeral Home, 211 Park Ave., SW, Aiken, SC 29801 (803.649.6234), has charge of arrangements.

Expressions of sympathy for the family may be left by visiting www.georgefuneralhomes.com