Robert MacFarlan Cole III

Robert MacFarlan Cole III
Born (1889-12-26)December 26, 1889
Chicago[1]
Died January 18, 1986(1986-01-18) (aged 96)
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Spouse(s) Wertha Pendleton
Children William P. Cole
Dandridge M. Cole
Aubrey Cole Odhner
Robert H. P. Cole

Robert MacFarlan Cole (December 26, 1889 – January 18, 1986) was an American chemical engineer, inventor, and author. He helped develop many chemicals, including freon and its use as a refrigerant and an aerosol repellent, a substance to counteract poisonous gas in World War I, synthetic rubber and pyrethrin insecticides in World War II, and ethylene oxide as a hospital germicide.[2][3][4][5]

Biography

His education included studies at the Armour Institute (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago, where he received his doctorate in chemistry.

He married, on October 26, 1918, Wertha Pendleton,[6] the daughter of William Frederic Pendleton, the founding bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian Faith). Their children included: William P. Cole, Dandridge M. Cole, Aubrey Cole Odhner, and the Rev. Robert H. P. Cole.

He became the founder and first president of Hord Color Products in Sandusky, Ohio in 1920.[7] There he helped pioneer color processes and products. In 1928, Mr. Cole went to work for the American Dyewood Co. in Chester, Pa., where he developed recycling of the paper in telephone directories.

Cole reported to the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company that he had witnessed chlorofluorocarbon, considered a poisonous gas, being used safely in Germany. A duPont chemist, William Warren Rhodes, and Mr. Cole worked on the development of the gas, to which duPont gave the trade name Freon.[8] "I was there when the first seven cc's of Freon came out of the distilling apparatus in Sandusky, Ohio" He told a Pennsylvania newspaper.

During World War II, Mr. Cole was a member of the War Chemical Board and pioneered the artificial synthesis of pyrethrin, used as an insecticide by the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific. He died on January 18, 1986.[3][5]

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ 1900 U. S. Census, Cook Co. IL, District 430, sheet 11.
  2. ↑ New Church Life 1986, p. 189
  3. 1 2 "Robert MacFarlan Cole". Associated Press in New York Times. January 24, 1986. Robert MacFarlan Cole, a chemist who helped develop Freon and its use as a refrigerant and an aerosol propellant, died Saturday. He was 94 years old [sic]. Funeral services for Mr. Cole were held Monday. Mr. Cole helped develop a substance to counteract poisonous gas in World War I, a synthetic rubber in World War II as well as household, automobile, gardening and industrial products. Mr. Cole and William Rhodes, a Du Pont chemist, developed a gas used in refrigeration that Du Pont gave the trade name Freon. Survivors include a son, a daughter and 19 grandchildren..
  4. ↑ Heise, Kenan (January 21, 1986). "Robert MacFarlan Cole: Helped Develop Freon". Chicago Tribune..
  5. 1 2 "Robert M. Cole, 94, Pioneering Chemist". Philadelphia Inquirer. January 19, 1986. Robert MacFarlan Cole, 94 [sic], a noted chemist who helped develop numerous household, automotive, gardening and industrial products, died early yesterday at his home in Bryn Athyn. At the time of his death, Mr. Cole was a chemical consultant for the Pennsylvania Engineering Co. in Philadelphia, which he joined in 1947 and served as chemical director, after gaining recognition for his work at several other jobs. Mr. Cole was born in Chicago in 1891, attended Armour Institute in Chicago, and....
  6. ↑ New Church Life 1918, p. 764
  7. ↑ Sandusky Star Journal May 1, 1920
  8. ↑ The Mark of the Scots 2001, p. 282
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