Darrell Paul Eyman
EYMAN, SMITH, MYERS, ROGERS, CLARKE, CASEY
Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 10/18/2022 at 13:28:17
Darrell Paul Eyman, Ph.D., passed away peacefully at 84, surrounded by loved ones at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, following a brief illness. Please join us for a celebration of life on Monday, October 17, 3:30 p.m., at Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service, followed by a reception at The Kirkwood Room from 5-7 p.m. Memorial donations may be made to the Department of Chemistry Development Fund.
Darrell was born December 18, 1937, in his family home in Mason County, IL, the son of John and Esther Smith Eyman. He was the oldest of three boys and was very close with his brothers, Dean and Jerry. He married Joyce Myers on June 14, 1959, in Eureka, IL. He received a B.S. in Chemistry at Eureka College in 1959 and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1964.
Darrell accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the University of Iowa Department of Chemistry and relocated to Iowa City in 1964. He taught undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students for 47 years. During his tenure, he advanced to Associate Professor and served as departmental chair for nine years. His work as a researcher at the University of Iowa led to journal publications, co-authored books, held patents and invitations to lecture at many Colleges and Universities. He co-authored and presented papers at industrial and governmental laboratories in the United States and abroad. With funding from the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN), Darrell successfully recruited talented students from underrepresented groups into the world of Chemistry. Because of his work with GAANN, he was nominated for a Catalyst Award for distinctive and innovative contributions to enhancing diversity at the University of Iowa, and specifically for his work to support faculty and students displaced by hurricane Katrina. Throughout his career, Darrell advised many Ph.D. candidates, master’s candidates, postdoctoral associates, visiting scholars and undergraduate research students.
His later research at the University of Iowa involved projects primarily funded by Honda Motor Company and directed at environmentally related issues. He focused on the development of processes to generate hydrogen from gasoline and water for use in hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles and removal of nitrogen oxides from diesel exhaust. This research of new catalysts was invaluable and led to the synthesis of his own molecule, Eta(6)-hexamethyl benzene manganese dicarbonyl chloride.
Darrell had a strong entrepreneurial spirit, demonstrated by his plethora of extracurricular activities, such as co-owning the Pine Edge Motel, the El Dorado Lodge, and Normandy Court Apartments with his brothers. In the 70’s, Darrell founded his own Black Angus cattle breeding operation with farmland rental, hands-on breeding and calving, hay pasture seeding, cutting, and baling, and traveling to show his prize bull, Winnie. His interest in catalytic fuel processing motivated him to create his own research company, ACCEL Catalysis, located at the Technology Innovation Center at the Oakdale Campus, University of Iowa. Darrell also worked as a consultant for ACT, using his chemistry expertise to review test passages and content.
He was a member of the American Chemical Society, Phi Lambda Upsilon, Alpha Chi Sigma, and Tau Kappa Epsilon. In his retirement, he continued to be active with the University of Iowa, belonging to an emeritus group which met for coffee monthly. Darrell was a chemistry tutor for athletes at the University of Iowa and found great joy in combining his love for teaching and his passion for Hawkeye athletics. He and Joy were avid Hawkeye sports fans, holding season tickets for Iowa men’s and women’s basketball and Iowa football for more than half a century. They loved supporting their grandkids in all their athletic endeavors.
The Eyman family took ski trips to Colorado annually with close family friends for the duration of the children’s formative years. Darrell loved spending time at the family cabin in Hayward, Wisconsin each summer where he was able to pursue his passion for both golfing and fishing. He was also very involved with the faculty golf league and participated in many faculty golf outings.
Darrell is survived by many loving family and friends, including his wife, Joy; his children: Gregory and wife, Colleen Rogers, of Victoria, MN, Jill Clarke and husband, Bill, of Mesa, AZ, and Rebecca Eyman and husband, Bart Casey, of Iowa City, IA; two brothers: Jerry and wife, Jan, of Iowa City, IA and L. Dean and wife, Virginia, of Oakridge, TN; eight grandchildren: Darrell Paul/DP, Madeline (Shane), Callandre (Matthew), Samantha, Isaac, Abraham (Elizabeth), Quinlan, and LouLou; and two great-grandchildren, Olive and Willow Joy. Darrell loved following the personal and professional successes of his grandchildren and greatly enjoyed watching his two great-granddaughters grow and flourish.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
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