Neil Franklin Woolsey

Dr. Neil Franklin Woolsey, PhD, Professor of Organic Chemistry for UND, age 86, Died June 20, 2021 at Valley Senior Living in Grand Forks, ND. Neil was born in Tieton, Washington on April 30, 1935 to his father Robert William Woolsey and his mother Catherine L (Earl, Woolsey) Hume. Dr. Woolsey served the Organic Chemistry Department at UND for 31 years before retiring. He enjoyed a busy retirement traveling, driving his sports car and as an avid Amateur Radio Operator. He is preceded in death by his parents Catherine and Robert, his stepfather Ed O. Hume and his son Spencer Guy Woolsey. Neil is survived by his brother Robert William Woolsey, his sister S. Katelin (Hume) Ryan-LaVail, his beloved wife Marilyn Elain (Gill) Woolsey, his daughters Beth Agnes Woolsey and Heather Lea (Woolsey) Rusten, his sons Earl Robert Woolsey and Nathan John Woolsey.

In his early life, Neil’s family worked the fruit industry jobs in Washington State. Much of his youth was spent hunting and fishing in the scenic Washington back country near Olympia, Seattle and Yakima. The family eventually settled in Vancouver, WA. Neil (age 15) graduated in 1950 from Shumway Junior high where he earned a letter for his extracurricular activities. He graduated Vancouver High School in 1953 (1950-1953) and went on to attend the University of Portland, OR earning a Bachelor of Science for Chemistry (1953-1957). He earned a Graduate Degree for Organic Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1957-1959). Neil continued on at UW, Madison on a National Science Foundation Fellowship (1959-1961) as he worked toward his Doctorate. His excellent academic performance earned Neil many accolades including membership in the American Chemical Society (1957), the prestigious Delta Epsilon Sigma fraternal order at Washington DC (1957), the Society of the Sigma Xi at UW, Madison (1960) and a rare Rhodes Scholarship for Chemistry placing him in the top 1% in the world post secondary chemistry students. He was invited to attended Imperial College at Oxford University in London England (1961-1963) where he worked with Professor DHR Barton (Nobel Prize winner in chemistry) to earn his PhD. Neil returned to the United States in 1963 and took a post doctorate position at Iowa State University in Ames (1963-1965). Neil was hired in 1965 as a Professor of Organic Chemistry by the University of North Dakota (1965-1998) where he spent his teaching career Researching Chemistry and Advising Students. Neil Retired to his Home in Grand Forks in 1998 after 31 years at UND.

Neil married Marilyn Elaine Gill in the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Vancouver, WA on June 15, 1956. His first two children were born in Madison Wisconsin while he was in graduate school, Beth (1958) and Earl (1960). The family spent 2 years in London as Neil pursued his studies. His third child was born in Ames Iowa, Spencer (1964-2017). Nathan (1968) and Heather (1972) were both born in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Neil’s Research centered around diazoketone chemistry, photochemistry, the organocatalytic chemistry of lignite and derived products, polyaromatic arene metal complexes. Teaching interests covered nearly all of organic chemistry but with emphasis on instrumentation. Particularly Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.

***A reflection from his brother::

03/22/2021
BROTHERS
“I want to spend a little time on the “early years”.
We were born in a little town called Tieton. It sits on a
bluff in the apple orchards above the hi way west of
Yakima. I came along in Aug. 1933 and was hatched at
the hospital in Yakima. Neil arrived in April of 1935 but
had to be born at home since the folks had been
unable to pay the hospital for me! Memory doesn’t tell
me a lot about our time there but there are a few pics.
Mom’s brother Bill contacted them and said he had a
steady job at a mill in Bucoda , Washington and
thought our Dad could get one as well. Orchard work
was pretty seasonal and did not pay all that great.
We moved to Tenino and he took the job. The first
house was a cold water bungalow and we soon moved
to a better place south of town. Neil and I had a
fascination with matches. A syndrome duplicated in a
later generation. Mom did her best to keep them from
us but we prevailed one day. We decided to help clean
up the garage and set some shredded paper to
burning. Well that soon got out of control scaring the
daylights our of us and we ran and hid. Good news
bad news. The good news was someone got there in
time to save the folks car. The bad news was the
garage was a total loss and Dad had to build the
landlord a new one. Maybe a bit more of good news.
Our efforts precluded a trip to the woodshed. No
memory of the punishment but it must have been
considerable. My brother and I the pyromaniacs.
At that age we weren’t privy to the reasons for
changes but we later made the move south to
Centralia. We lived in a neat 2 bedroom bungalow at
the foot of Silver street.
The grade school was about a block west and just
across the street from the house. We went to school
there and class pictures began to appear. We spent
the bulk of our time out doors. Tons of energy to be
burnt off and inside entertainment was scarce. We did
have a big floor model Philco radio. We were allowed
to listen on Sunday night to the serials. The Lone
Ranger, Captain Midnight , The Shadow, etc. It helped
a little with the going to school Monday morning
angst.
This location became the site of one of our most
traumatic experiences. WW II started and Boeing
was hiring. Dad saw an opportunity to get out of the
mill situation. He took off and got a job there. He never
returned to the family. Mom decided to divorce him
because she did not see Neil and I getting the
schooling she wanted. She felt the Woolsey family
would not be supportive. We remained in the home
while Mom took a job a J.C. Penny’s in town. Her
mother , our “little” grandma, ( Agnes Earl) helped
with the child care. Dad ended up joining the Army Air
force and shipping out of state.
Again for no reason we were aware of Mom got a job
at the Kaiser shipyard in Vancouver. We moved into
the Kaiser housing on the heights in Vancouver. We
spent the war years and beyond there. We got bikes,
again spending the bulk of our time outdoors. We both
took up paper routes and delivered in all weather
some pretty grim.
Neil and I were of an age at which brothers find things
to disagree about and we would fight. One day in the
summer we had one in which I got him down and sat
on him and kept asking, “ do you give?, do you give?”
He wouldn’t and I had to get off. He just didn’t have a
lot of quit in him. The stubborn Scot and he never quit
anything that I am aware of. During the war Mom
became very sick and her Mom couldn’t help. Mom
decided to board us out. We went to the Matthews
family in Westport, Oregon. Actually to a home in the
woods on the hi way east of Westport. We adapted
were treated well and went to school in Westport.
(Class pics) Mom came out to visit and we would go
into Portland on the bus to be with her on occasion.
The Matthews had a cow they miked for the family so
we had fresh milk and butter while there. A total
adventure for two young boys. We had each other and
a few local friends. Again spending a maximum of
time outdoors.
While in Centralia after the divorce Mom met Ed
Hume. They kept in touch and he would visit us in
Vancouver. They eventually married and stayed
together the rest of their lives. He was a good guy and
treated us very well helping us to learn to ride the
bikes and supporting the family through the years as
Neil and I grew and continued our education.
During the war Dad would have furloughs from the
Army and come home to his parents place in Lakebay,
Washington. He would pick us up in Vancouver for
visits there. A rural place with lots of guy activities,
wood cutting, building, boating, poaching, digging
gooey ducks and spending time with Dad in the
normal daily activities, We slept in the living room
together. We visited them a couple of times until Dad
was discharged.
The transitions are not well remembered but Neil and I
returned to Vancouver. Living in a different house on
the heights and going to school. Katelin, (Sandra) was
born during this time. We then followed Ed to his job
with the US Forest Service in Parkdale, Oregon. It was
a small town on the north slope of Mount Hood. We
went to school there, joined the Boy Scouts and
generally enjoyed the outdoors. Apple orchards every
where. We were old enough to do some serious
roaming and exploring. We went rowing on Lost Lake.
We spent one summer in the fire camp at Bear
Springs as a family. A total outdoor adventure in the
forest.
Starting with a Cocker Spaniel named Penny in
Centralia we usually had a dog for a pet. Due to
Distemper and no money for vets they usually died.
We had a series up until the last one that came with us
to Bear Springs. He died there. After I think we ended
up with a cat now and then.
During our time at Parkdale Dad would pick us up for
a couple of month Summer visit at their ranch. It was
located 3/4 mile off hi way 97 at the Satus Pass north
of Goldendale, Washington. Cold water, wood stove,
outhouse, root cellar 2 bedroom. We slept on Army
cots in the back bedroom with Dad. They had 3 hogs a
herd of goats and a huge flock of chickens. Hogs and
chickens for meat and the goats for milk. Dad had
built a tractor out of an old Nash automobile. We rode
with him sitting on a board behind his tractor seat. He
had a 4 holer Buick and Grandpa had a Pontiac. Dad
had 2 sisters that lived around Goldendale with their
families and the old original family home was north up
the hi way in the Yakima valley. We were teens by then
and spent our time roaming, fishing, shooting
squirrels and generally being kids. Dad did teach (?)
us to drive. They had an old model A hay truck. Dad
took us out into the alfalfa field put in a gallon of gas,
started it, showed us how to shift and work the brake
and clutch then we figured it out from there. It had a
huge hole in the floorboards so you could see the
ground going by down there. We never got out of low
gear but had a blast anyway. Our Dads Mom, “big
grandma”, (Florence Woolsey), worked that wood
stove cooking all the meals and heating the water for
our baths in the gavanized tin tub. Pancakes and
bacon for breakfast with the favorite chicken and
dumplings for dinner. Dad would sometimes play the
violin in the evening. Outdoors most of the time with
almost unlimited space to roam. Cousins would visit
now and then. The barn was a favorite playground.
Grandpa had a forge and showed us how he repaired
a chain by making a new link. Never got a feeling for
what Neil thought of this place but for me it was the
happiest time and I think of it often.
Meantime back in Parkdale the job ended and we
returned to Vancouver to 2406 SE 27th St. where Neil
and I finished our times under the family roof. I was in
hi school and he in Jr. hi our paths slowly beginning
to diverge. We bought a car together. A greend1928
Chevrolet 4 door touring car with dual spare side
mounts. We traded it later for a 1939 Plymouth that we
used to visit Dad in Goldendale. Neil got into ham
radio building his own equipment and joining a club
where he found a good friend in Fran Gates. He went
on to buy a Morse Minor car that got painted black
with lemon yellow wheels. Neil applied and was
accepted and Portland University and began his linear
career in Chemistry. I am always amazed at the
trajectory of that career. Graduated, went on to a
doctorate and post doctorate to research and
teaching. All the while married and raising a family of
5 kids.
BACKSTORY
Some more information on the Earl and Woolsey
families leading up to the brothers births. Some
duplication of material in Mom’s narrative as earlier
recorded.
Both families migrated from the east. Mom’s family,
the Earl’s (Oren, Agnes, Bill, Catherine) from Sandy
Hook NY. Arriving after the series of events
documented in Mom’s narrative. Dad’s family (Frank,
Florence, Bob, Eva, Dorothy, Cal ,Marion) originated
from Missouri. Mom’s family ended up in Carnation,
Washington with jobs at the dairy. Mom and Bill were
in school. Oren worked on the farm and Agnes in the
kitchen. Dads large family settled on the Autanum in
the Yakima valley. Dad’s father and mother built a
nice bungalow in Tieton.
Mom’s Dad was an abusive alcoholic and got fired
from the farm in Carnation. He decided to move them
to Portland, Oregon. Her brother Bill didn’t go with
them and went instead to board and work on a farm
around Tenino, Washington. This after he had a
physical fight with his Dad and injured Agnes by
detaching a retina in one eye. In Portland Oren
continued his life style, including a mistress. Agnes
worked when she could and Mom worked and went to
school. When she turned 18 she decided to get out.
Never finishing high school. She had heard of the jobs
available in the apple orchards around Yakima.
Hopped a bus and got hired at the plant in Tieton.
Dads family were living and working at the same
orchard complex. The workers picked, processed and
shipped apples to the market. In the winter they
helped pruning and preparing the trees for the next
harvest. A heavily seasonal income stream.
Mom and Dad met at the plant. Dad’s job was making
the boxes used to ship the apples. No idea what
Mom’s job was but she didn’t like it. Dad got her
transferred to his work area. Mom really didn’t like life
in the female dormitory. Too much chaos and hankypanky.

Dad offered room and board at the family home
and Mom took up residence there. At the end of the
season Mom returned to Portland. Mom and Dad kept
in touch. Mom went back for the next season. They
eventually married and moved in to the family house
evicting Dad’s younger brother, Cal, to have space.
While they were living there Dad and Frank built a
small cabin on the property that became our house
and the site of Neil’s birth. Agnes came out to help
Mom. They never did get along very well as the old
country Agnes focused on the firstborn son Bill.
Agnes did not approve of either of the partners
chosen by her kids. This I feel laid the groundwork for
the subsequence divorce in 1942.