Kevin Thomas Potts

Kevin Thomas Potts passed away at his home of thirty years in Sneads Ferry, NC, at the age of 94, on February 18, 2023. 

Kevin enjoyed everything about his life -- from his youth growing up in a small town close to the ocean at Seaforth, Australia, through his retirement years in coastal North Carolina and was reluctant to say goodbye. He would have stayed longer on this planet, if he had had any say in the matter.

Kevin was born in Australia and brought up in Seaforth, N.S.W., a suburb of Northern Sydney. His father was a maritime merchant and his mother cared for their three children, Valma, Jack, and Kevin, and later in life, many grandchildren. Kevin told his daughters that in his youth, he sailed in Sydney Harbor with a sense of adventure as the waters often contained sharks. He and his friends sailed under great speed, capturing the wind in their sails by anchoring toes under a thin wooden rail rimming the boat and leaning their bodies out over the waves to gain maximum leverage and tilt. After school, he and his friends met at the local ocean-side swimming hole, an area fenced in with chicken wire to protect swimmers from sharks occasionally seen in Manly Harbor. He shared his love for the ocean and sailing with his family, strapping a Sunfish sailboat atop the family Vista Cruiser station wagon and hauling it to summer vacations at Lake George, NY or Cape Cod, MA. He took two young daughters at a time out on the boat, or sometimes all four with one straddling the bow of the Sunfish, from the safe marshy inlets at the Cape, into the Atlantic ocean by West Dennis. He showed them how to tuck their toes under the rim of the cockpit as he had done as a youngster to keel the boat -- lean back towards the water -- to race forward with the wind. When water gushed into the cockpit (which was released through a seacock), it must have brought back fond memories of sailing in Sydney Harbor; for his daughters, they felt excitement and fear, especially if the run ended with the boat capsized and everyone tossed into the waves. In addition to sailing, Kevin loved to ski. Being from Australia, he took it up as a graduate student in England, and he and his friends skied the Alps between studies. He shared his passion for this sport with his family, indulging in New York State’s season pass for the family for many years. If the ski conditions were particularly good, he would, as a rare treat, allow his daughters to skip school for the day and head north in the Vista Cruiser to ski at one of New York’s mountains. His wife, Anne, picked up the sport and skied with the family. These are gifts of a lifetime, and some of Kevin’s daughters ski today and have shared this sport with their family and friends.

Throughout Kevin’s life, he enjoyed photography and documenting his surroundings, his family, and trips. He started with black and white film and ended with digital photography, enhanced with his skillful use of Photoshop. During his retirement years, he documented his worldly travels with Anne and composed books of their trips, describing the places and people they visited with well researched information and the photos he had taken. These books were shared with family and friends.

Among his many interests, Kevin’s love for learning and teaching rises to the top of the list. Kevin was an accomplished and renowned organic chemist who shared his enthusiasm and knowledge of this field with many graduate students who earned their doctoral degrees under his mentorship. Kevin began his training at the University of Sydney earning B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees. He earned a Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry from Oxford University, England, and after post-doctoral work at the National Institute for Medical Research, London, and at Harvard University, he joined the faculty of the University of Adelaide, Australia. Later, he worked as an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Louisville prior to joining Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s faculty in 1965. Kevin was chairman of the chemistry department at RPI from 1973 until 1980.

Kevin met his wife, Anne, in Cambridge, MA, during his post-doctoral years when he was at Harvard’s Mallinckrodt Laboratory and Anne was at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory in Boston. They shared an apartment building and often met for home-cooked meals, especially eggplant parmesan, and a beer or two. Married in Australia, they lived there for a few years before returning to the United States. Their marriage lasted 57 years until Anne’s death on April 13, 2015. Dogs were a great love of Kevin and Anne and several English cocker spaniels were fortunate to make their home with the Potts’ from the first family dog named Bee Bee to Buddy, an American cocker rescued by Susan and given a home – complete with North Shore Country Club golf cart rides--by Kevin and Anne. Kevin took a sabbatical from RPI in 1973 and moved the family to England. During his time there, he earned and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science by Oxford University, the highest science degree granted by the University and given only to Oxford graduates in recognition of their contributions to science. During Kevin’s tenure as an academic, he was a member of the American Chemical Society, the Chemical Society of London, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Society of Sigma Xi and Phi Lambda Upsilon. Kevin and Anne’s shared love for learning was imparted on his daughters with all earning higher degrees in the sciences and education fields. Kevin and Anne retired to Sneads Ferry, NC, to a setting surrounded by saltwater marshes, birds, beaches, and golf. Kevin picked up golf during these years and played with the Men’s Club for many years at North Shore Country Club. 

Following Anne’s death in 2015, Kevin missed her terribly and would send daily emails to his daughters describing the weather, bird sightings, menu choices, and even recipes. He found great comfort in receiving evening phone calls from his nephew, Jimmy, to chat about politics and the ups and downs of the stock market. He continued to travel; he took a few Caribbean holiday cruises with his daughters and grandsons and even a world cruise with Susan until it was cut short by COVID. Susan moved in with her father to his great joy, which helped alleviate the void left by Anne’s absence. In December of 2020, Kevin suffered a severe stroke that left him with limited ability to speak; however, he retained the ability to walk and use his affected arm. While each daughter visited with Kevin at various times and worked to keep him comfortable over the course of the two years prior to his death, his daughter Susan was a constant presence tirelessly helping him, often with the assistance of kind caregivers, with his basic needs and care until his death. Kevin is survived by his four daughters, Maryellen, Jeannette, Karen, and Susan, son-in-law Fritz Reinhart, and two grandchildren, Hank and Mitch Reinhart, along with and numerous pets, andrelatives from Anne’s family, his Australian relatives, including nieces and nephews and their families. In addition to immediate and extended family, Kevin and Anne both leave behind the many dear and special friendships they had made over the years and profoundly cherished.