Adolf P Gunther

Adolf P Gunther, a resident of Peekskill, NY, passed away on October 10, 2025. He was 92 years old. Adolf was born on March 21, 1933 in Berlin, Germany to the late Ernst and Kathe (Schultz) Gunther. Before his retirement, he owned and operated Advanced Glass Technology in Bloomington, NY in the scientific glass blowing industry.

Adolf was born in Berlin Germany on March 21, 1933. At age 15 he started his apprenticeship as a scientific glassblower at Osram Industries in Berlin Germany. He would have preferred to be an optician, but during the interview the owner did not like his “Berliner” accent and turned him away. His Osram workshop had a total of twenty-four students that were broken into four classes. At age 18 he became one of only two students to be invited to join Osram as a research glassblower.

At age 20, he immigrated to Canada with 3 of his friends. They didn’t have much money, but brought intelligence, hard work, and a sense of adventure. He did many odd jobs, digging trenches and other hard labor before he found work close to his training, bending tubes for the neon signs popular in the 50’s and 60’s. His younger brother, Richard, joined him in America and they had many adventures crossing the US.

At 25 Adolf immigrated to America and worked for Sargent Welsh, a Scientific Equipment Company, in Chicago. Six months later he visited Germany and while there, met Inge at the local sailing club, who would become his future wife. He returned to New York and took a position with Fisher Scientific and then asked for Inge to join him. They were married on May 6, 1961 in Queens, New York and started a family 3 years later. In 1966 he founded the scientific glass lab at Stauffer Chemical in Dobbs Ferry, moving the family to Yorktown Heights and buying a house in 1970. During his time at Stauffer he received a number of patents and made many friends in the glassblowing industry. He and his family traveled to many many Symposiums over the years, taking part in international ones as well.

In 1986, Adolf and Ted Bolan started their own scientific glassblowing business- Advanced Glass Technology, which he continued to actively work until a year before his passing.

Adolf was a supporter to many scientific glassblowers throughout the world. He eagerly shared his knowledge and invited fellow scientific glassblowers to his home and business. He was a member of the American Scientific Glassblowers Society and participated in the New York, Hudson-Mohawk, Boston and the New England sections. Members will recall many meetings at Advanced Glass Technology, where along with Inge, he hosted the Glassblower Community. Adolf was an icon in the scientific glassblowing community and will be greatly missed.

He is survived by His daughters Elke Raskob and Petra Boehmer, son-in-law Casey Raskob and grandchildren Becca Raskob and Marc Raskob and his brother Richard Gunther and niece Kathe Patterson.

He was predeceased by beloved wife Ingeborg, parents Ernst Gunther and Kathe Schultz and son-in-law Daniel Boehmer

All services are private.

In lieu of flowers, please learn to dance.