Russell Alan Cormier

August 12, 1945 to September 17, 2026

Dr. Russell "Russ" Cormier of Denver, Colorado, a chemistry professor who taught organic chemistry to Denver students for nearly four decades and spent his free time looking for the view around the next corner, died at home on Thursday, September 17, 2026. He was 81.

Russ was born in the Bronx, New York. With the end of World War II, his parents returned to Montpelier, Vermont, where he grew up as the oldest of the four children of Emillien and Winifred (Fisk) Cormier. His father was a stone engraver for 45 years. The family moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, when Russ was 15, and he attended Science and Technology High School there, but Vermont stayed with him for the rest of his life, and he returned almost every fall for leaf peeping and maple syrup.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Master of Science and a doctorate in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Rochester, followed by postdoctoral research at Rockefeller University in New York City. He became laboratory director at Bucknell University and spent two years as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Boulder before joining the chemistry faculty at Metropolitan State College of Denver (now Metropolitan State University of Denver) in 1977.

Organic chemistry has a reputation, and so did Russ: his exams were hard, his explanations were clear, and his lectures came with stories. He wanted his students to succeed, and he devoted every Saturday morning before an exam to a review session, where he brought the orange juice and the students brought breakfast. They called him demanding, fair, and easy to approach.

For twenty years Russ was also a visiting scientist at the Solar Energy Research Institute in Golden, later renamed the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, building molecules for use in solar energy projects and co-authoring papers on organic materials for solar energy.

Russ shared more than 30 years with Virginia Meadow, beginning in 1995, and they married on August 12, 2020, his 75th birthday. Russ' previous marriage to Pamela (Stackhouse) McDonnell ended amicably, and they and their respective spouses remained the best of friends.

When they weren't working, Russ and Virginia were rarely home for long. They visited almost sixty national parks and spent time in every state. Yellowstone was a particular favorite, in every season. They rented cabins in Vermont, drove to Washington Island in Wisconsin, and sent long, funny dispatches home from Italy and Budapest. Russ planned every trip in detail. He was most at home traipsing around wild places in all weather, capturing what he saw with his cameras, whether it was penguins in Antarctica, gray whales on a Road Scholar trip to Baja, the wildlife of the Galapagos, or historical landmarks around the world. He would stop the car for any photograph. To Russ, the next stop was always "right there," and there was always time to go "a little farther." He once described his own "bad behavior" as a traveler as "wanting to be on the go and wanting to see around the next corner or over the next hill."

The family he gained with Virginia was one of the great joys of his life. He loved to play the curmudgeon, and his grandchildren knew him as "Grumpy," a name he liked well enough to use when signing his Christmas cards. With them he was anything but. He was sweet, warm, and patient, and he photographed them constantly. He was generous, opinionated, and very funny, usually at his own expense. In his last years he faced cancer the way he faced everything else: he gave his tumors nicknames, kept family and friends informed with candor and humor, and kept traveling.

Russ is survived by his wife, Virginia Meadow; his stepchildren, Matthew Meadow (Kenna) of Bordentown, New Jersey, and Miranda Meadow (Ken Scott) of Denver; his grandchildren, Xander, Hannah, and Anders; his brother, Philip (Betty) Cormier of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; his sister, Elizabeth "Betsy" (Cormier) Quarterson of Hudson, Florida; his sister-in-law, Diane Cormier; his niece, Meredith; his nephews, David and Darren Cormier and Jimmy Ely; and a wide circle of friends who became family. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Roland Cormier.

The family will hold a celebration of his life at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests gifts to the American Cancer Society or the oncology program at University of Colorado Hospital.

Russ closed his letters to family and friends with a line that still sounds like him: "Stay well and stay safe. Big hugs and much love to all."