James Warren Rinker

Dr. James Warren Rinker was born September 15, 1929 in Woodstock, Virginia. He attended Charlottesville’s Lane High School where he participated in wrestling and marching band, and developed a lifelong love of music, especially piano and drums. He majored in organic chemistry at the University of Virginia, where he earned a Ph.D. After graduation he served in the Navy, and then joined a research and development team at DuPont, specializing in plastics. He continued his career at Exxon, before becoming an instructor at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. On three occasions he traveled to Stuttgart, Germany to teach U. S. Army personnel via a program at the University of Baltimore at Maryland. He returned to Charlottesville to retire where he taught at several community colleges, including Piedmont Virginia Community College. James Warren Rinker died Wednesday August 5, 2015 and is survived by his wife of over 59 years Natalie Rinker R.N., his brother Dennis Rinker D.D.S., his daughter Sue Catherin Rinker M.S., his son Mark Rinker Ph.D., two nieces, and more. He is remembered for his razor sharp wit, his adoration of beagle puppies, his enthusiastic boogie-woogie piano playing, his passion for airplane models, and his skill raising “dinner plate” dahlias. We love you, and we miss you.