Renate L. Lucanus de Zacks Ph.D.

East Lansing

Age 86, passed away September 17, 2014. She was born March 30, 1928 in Magdeburg, Germany to Walter and Thusnelda Lucanus (nee Hachenberger). She obtained her Ph.D. from Justus Liebig Universität Giessen in Agronomy on full scholarship. She was particularly grateful to the United States Marshall Plan and credits the US with providing the means for her survival during the toughest years of her schooling experience.

She joined the Max Planck Institute of Plant Breeding advancing strawberry varietals for drought and frost tolerance. Thereafter, she served as a scientific officer for the New Zealand government and by 1960 she was already a published scientist in the New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research addressing variables in controlled and field condition experiments among pasture species. While she continued her research and publications, Dr. de Zacks joined the New Zealand fencing team—a team that competed at the national level to qualify for the Olympics. She became a scientific officer in Pergamino, Argentina serving the Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria (INTA). She completed post-doctoral research in photosynthesis at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) in Pasadena, California before being recruited to help found Michigan State University’s Atomic Energy Commission Plant Biology Research Laboratory where she worked for 28 years. Dr. de Zacks was recognized for her technical contributions in research areas including the hormonal importance of cytokinins and gibberellins, protein sequencing and cDNA encoding of regulated enzymes, hormone promotion of plant growth, fruit ripening, flower fading, and the role of ethylene production in mechanical stress (wounding). Renate was also published in US peer-reviewed journals including Plant Physiology (on gymnosperm extensins). During her span at MSU, she became a founding member of the Greater Lansing Orchid Society, watching it grow to over 100 members. She taught annual “orchidology” classes through MSU’s Extension College. In 1998, the American Orchid Society awarded her for her research and publication on conservation efforts in Germany. She assumed a board position with the Society and in 2000 was named “Orchidist of the Year.” Upon retirement she became a licensed realtor, worked for Elder Law of Michigan, and continued experimentation in geitonogamy to reverse species endangerment caused by habitat destruction and reduced biodiversity. She published both fiction and non-fiction in popular journals, contributed to the potato industry news, and continued a wide correspondence circle to keep her writing skills honed in German, English, and Spanish. She was a trained classical violinist, opera and lieder (art song) singer, participating in ensembles and choirs.

For the past 20 years, Dr. de Zacks addressed human rights claims with the German government, particularly the issue of forcefully confiscated property and rights of reparations for those displaced by war, families torn apart by detentions and human rights abuses at the hands of their own government and interim governments. She has succeeded with some of these claims, setting precedent.

She is preceded in death by her parents, her brother Karl Lucanus, her sister-in-law, Gisela Lucanus, her brother-in-law Ignacio Glanczspigiel, and her husband of 38 years, Naum Zacks. She is survived by her sister Ilse Lucanus of Rottenau, Germany, sister-in-law Helga Pestele of Zerbst, Germany, her sister Hannelore (Claus) Semrau of Bad Driburg, Germany, sister-in-law Perla Glanczspigiel of Buenos Aires, Argentina, sister-in-law Celina (Josef) Chakarov of Baltimore, Maryland, her children, Eugenia Yehudit Zacks-Carney and Julio Alejandro Zacks, her grandchildren Sean (Katie) Carney of Pasadena, California, and Dillon Carney of Kalamazoo, Michigan, many nieces and nephews. In her memory, donations may be made to the University of Michigan W. K. Kellogg Eye Center and the Greater Lansing Orchid Society.

Close friends and family will have a private memorial at 10:00 am, followed by a public visitation at 11:00 am, and memorial services at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 at Faith Lutheran Church, 4515 Dobie Road, Okemos, Michigan 48864. Interment will be at the Glendale Cemetery in Okemos.

A favorite quote of Renate: "If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers....."

The family is being served by Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, East Lansing Chapel. On line condolences may be made at

www.greastlansing.com