Hugh Douglas Braymer was born March 28, 1933, in Oklahoma City to Hugh John Braymer and Faye Campbell Braymer, and was their only child. Doug spent his formative years in Oklahoma graduating from Capital Hill High School, and attending the University of Oklahoma on a Phillips Petroleum Company scholarship, where he earned a B.S. and Masters degree in Chemistry, and a Ph.D. in Bio-Chemistry. While at OU Doug married Marilyn Province, and they had their first child, John Allen. In 1960 he left Oklahoma to serve his military commitment in the United States Air Force as a research scientist stationed at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio. He achieved the rank of First Lieutenant, and also served on the graduate faculty at Trinity University. During his time spent in Texas his daughter, Joffa Lyn, was born. After completion of his military service, he moved his family to Palo Alto, California where he held a National Institute of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University. In 1966, Doug was hired by Louisiana State University as an Assistant Professor in the Microbiology Department, a move that forever changed his life for the better. He spent the next 34 years at LSU achieving the rank of full professor, holding a joint appointment with the LSU Agricultural Center, and serving as the Vice President of Academic Affairs for the LSU System. A highlight of his tenure at LSU was his sabbatical time spent as visiting professor of molecular biology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, with which he maintained a close research relationship over many years.
He was instrumental in establishing the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and maintained a research program there, eventually retiring as Vice President of Academic Affairs Emeritus and Professor Emeritus. But what he was most proud of were the hundreds of students he assisted, and with whom he conducted research, published research papers, and mentored as their professor. Nothing brought him greater joy than seeing the success of his students.
Doug was a lifetime member of the Methodist Church, with most of his adult life spent at University United Methodist Church, in Baton Rouge, where he contributed in leadership positions, chaperoning choir trips, and fund raising efforts to improve the church’s musical programs, particularly the acquisition of the pipe organ. He was a long-time proud member of the Sunrise Rotary where he served as President, and later as a Lieutenant Governor. He was a passionate fan of LSU Men’s Basketball having been a season ticket holder since 1967, LSU Women’s Basketball and LSU Softball. In his youth he loved to fly fish and camp in the Colorado Rockies Conejos River valley with his parents, who predeceased him.
He is survived by his and Marilyn’s children, John Allen Braymer and his wife Lorilin Gibbens Braymer; Dr. Joffa Lyn Braymer; grandchildren Ben and Jack Braymer; Betsy Webb and her husband Mitchell; Arden Smith Whitley and her husband Chi of Austin, Texas; Mitchell Smith of Orlando, Florida; and great-grandchildren Lydia and Alice Webb; and former wife Marilyn Braymer. His wife Gail Braymer survives him along with her children Courtney Lea Nelson, Allison Dixie Samrow, Summer Sunshine Domingue, Jonathan Franklin Kilroy, and Catherine Ellen Kilroy.
The family would like to thank special caregivers Rani Peters, Tiffany Davis, Daci Royal and Jearlin Dunn. Services will be on Friday August 22 at University United Methodist Church, with visitation beginning at 10am and the service at 11am. Honorary donations can be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in his memory.
