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Eric Lee Enwall passed away at home on Friday, October 29, with his wife Carol and a few close friends present.
Eric was born in Loveland, CO on June 19, 1940.
He was fond of pointing out that he shared his birthday with Garfield the cat (of cartoon fame), which made the date easy to remember. Eric graduated from Sterling High School (CO) where he played basketball and quarterbacked the football team. He received his BS degree in 1963 from the University of Colorado, majoring in Chemical Engineering. This was followed by a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Montana State University in 1968. Eric then did postdoctoral research at Simon Fraser University until he accepted a position as Visiting Assistant Professor from 1969 to 1971 at the University of Oklahoma in the laboratory of Prof. Dick van der Helm. He then worked in the laboratories of Profs. Sherril Christian and Gordon Atkinson until 1981, when he was appointed as Director of Analytical Services because of the extraordinary breadth of his expertise in X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. He was a leader in this area and was a founding member of the American Laboratory Managers’ Association. For many years Eric was the IT guru for the chemistry department, guiding its transition into the information age. He was instrumental in setting up the protein X-ray crystallography laboratory for the department and served as the department’s Information Technology Services manager. The University of Oklahoma honored Eric for his many contributions by awarding him the ISA Waintroob/Meyers Superior Performance award in 2004.
Eric’s interests were many and varied. In his early years at OU, he was a competitive tennis player. He was also a great fan and supporter of OU sports, particularly the women’s basketball team. He was an excellent fisherman and a regular at the annual men’s fishing outing at Lake Texoma. He was also skilled with a fly rod, having learned in the Colorado streams of his youth. Eric was an avid birdwatcher. He came to the hobby late in life, but pursued it enthusiastically, as with all of his endeavors. Many wonderful hours were spent, with his wife Carol and other friends, with binoculars raised at his favorite birding sites across Oklahoma and beyond. On a beautiful weekend day, if he wasn’t out birding, it was likely that Eric could be found enjoying a round of golf with a group of fellow duffers on the local public links. He could hit a golf ball straight and long as an arrow in spite of the Oklahoma winds and was an excellent scramble partner. He also looked forward to the 19th hole as much as anyone.
Eric is survived by his wife Carol, brother Mike and his wife Susanne, and a nephew Tim and his wife Hillary.
Special thanks goes out to Dr. Steven Connery and the Norman Regional Hospital staff; and Dr. Ozer and Dr. Pant and staff at the Chemotherapy and Infusion Center at the OU Physicians Cade Cancer Center.
There will be a small, informal memorial service in Eric’s beloved Wichita Mountains, attended by family and a few invited friends. He will be deeply missed by family and friends. Gifts may be sent to the Oklahoma City Audubon Society, c/o Nancy Vicars, 820 Arthur Drive, Midwest City, OK 73110.
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