In memory of Grandma

Some of you may have met my grandmother over the years, whether as friend’s of the family, students of hers, neighbors, or life guards at life center plus who took the heat from her potent distaste for splashing kids in the pool. She was a strong willed woman, and very blunt, but she was a great woman.

The best memories have from my childhood will always be from summers at the cottage on Atwood Lake, ski trips to Peek ‘n’ Peak, and weekly dinners at Red Lobster, where she would let us pick out which lobster she would eat that evening. I owe so much of where I am today to her. My first piano, and guitar were from her and my grandpa. They came to every concert from elementary school through high school. She and my grandpa were the reason I could afford to go to college, and why I am truly a Blue and Gold Akron Zip through and through.

She truly has a remarkable life story, and I thought I would share that with you as a memorial to her life.

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, Ind., 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 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Redmon Funeral Home. Funeral service 10 a.m. Friday at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 3725 Kent Rd., Stow, Rev. Arthur Cubbon officiating. Burial at 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 will be available at www.redmonfuneralhome.com

(REDMON, STOW, 330-688-6631)