Albrecht Konrad Eugster

Albrecht Konrad Eugster, age 85 years, passed away on July 21, 2024 at his daughter’s home in Round Rock, Texas. Public visitation hours and family eulogies will be on Wednesday, July 31 from 5 pm to 7 pm, with a rosary to follow, at the Memorial Funeral Chapel College Station, 2901 Texas Avenue South, College Station, TX 77845. Funeral services will begin on August 1, 2024 at 10:00 am at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in College Station. Burial will follow immediately at the Aggie Field of Honor & Memorial Cemetery at 3800 Raymond Stotzer Parkway in College Station, TX.

Konrad was born on December 10, 1938, in the small alpine village of Langenegg, Austria, as the second of five children of Josefina and Anton Eugster. Upon graduating from the Veterinary University in Vienna in 1963, he practiced veterinary medicine in Austria and Switzerland before emigrating in 1964 to the US. He started his career in the US as a research scientist at the Foundation for Research and Education in San Antonio, Texas. He was married in 1965 at the San Jose Mission in San Antonio to Kathe Dittrich, his beloved wife for 59 years. In 1970, he received a PhD in Veterinary Microbiology from Colorado State University and subsequently was employed as Head of the Microbiology Department at the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL), a part of the Texas A&M University System. In this capacity, he made many new discoveries in veterinary microbiology, including the first isolation of canine parvovirus II in the world and the development of a vaccine against it.

In 1980, he was appointed by the TAMU System Board of Regents as Executive Director of TVMDL and later received the additional title of Associate Vice Chancellor for Agriculture. Under his 22-year leadership at TVMDL, he instituted many new programs, including Aquaculture Diagnostics, Molecular Diagnostics, Endocrinology and drug testing for the pari-mutuel horse/greyhound racing industries, and obtained funds to double the physical facilities of TVMDL in College Station and Amarillo as well as to build a new poultry diagnostic laboratory in Center, Texas. He also directed for two years the Feed and Fertilizer Control Service at the TAMU System. He was a leader, who instilled by example the virtue and value of hard work, dedication and foresight. His vision of embracing new techniques, ideas and concepts, and transforming them into timely, high quality service outputs was and will continue to be of benefit to the animal industries in preventing and controlling animal diseases.

He was committed to providing an outstanding service to TVMDL’s clients and was able to instill this service attitude in the staff. The clientele showed their satisfaction and gratitude by bestowing on him various honors and recognitions. The Texas Veterinary Medical Association named him “Veterinarian of the Year – Distinguished Achievement” and presented him twice with the President’s Award. The TAMU System, the Texas Animal Health Commission, the Texas Poultry Federation, the Texas Pork Producers, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and the Texas as well as the American Brahman Association, honored him with certificates of appreciation, lifetime achievement awards and industry service awards.

He was a member and officer of many local, state, national and international organizations, including President of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD), President of the World Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians and President of the Bryan Kiwanis Club. The AAVLD honored him with the coveted E.L. Pope Award. The American Veterinary Medical Association presented him with the XII International Congress Award and the American Veterinary Epidemiology Society with the Gold-headed Cane Award. Upon his retirement from TVMDL, he served as Senior Animal Health Advisor and consultant, through the Texas A&M Borlaug Institute of International Agriculture, in Ethiopia, Southeast Asia and Central America and as an Advisor to the TAMU System Institute for Countermeasures against Agricultural Bioterrorism.

In more recent years, Konrad and Kathe spent time in their homes in Keystone, Colorado and Palm Beach, Florida where they found a strong community and good friends. Konrad loved staying fit and always enjoyed a challenge. He was an avid skier for 8 decades, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro at age 72, and ran in multiple marathons including the Boston Marathon. He loved to read and write his reflections, in narrative and in poetry.

While his achievements in his profession are numerous, the needs, interest and security of his children and family were always foremost on his mind and he saw to it that these issues were met with love and deed.

Konrad was preceded in death by his father, Anton Eugster, his mother, Josefina Laesser Eugster, and his sister, Gertrud Maidel.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Kathe Eugster, his son Cristopher Eugster and wife Stephanie of San Antonio, his daughter Susan May and husband Terry of Round Rock, 5 grandchildren, Allison, McKenna and Matthew May, Avery and Benjamin Eugster, his brothers Anton Eugster and wife Lena, Alfons Eugster and wife Anni, his sister Margit Fuchs and husband Ferdinand of Langenegg, Austria and numerous cousins, nephews and nieces.

In lieu of flowers the family requests gifts to establish the A. Konrad Eugster Memorial Awards Fund for TVMDL. Donations can be made to the Texas A&M Foundation at 401 George Bush Drive, College Station, Texas 77840. Please note the memorial in your donation.