Dr. George Rendina, biochemist and World War II veteran died April 6, 2024, three months before his 101st birthday. He was the devoted husband of more than 75 years of Irma Rendina (97) and was equally devoted to his four children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A New York native and longtime Cape Cod resident, George loved fishing, gardening cooking and politics -- combining all of these interests at the dinner table nightly. Born in the Bronx, New York, July 1,1923, George was raised in the Belmont (“Little Italy”) neighborhood by his parents Nina and Gaetano, immigrants from Barile, Italy. As a boy during the Great Depression, he spent hours exploring the nearby New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo, sparking an early interest in science. He became an avid bird watcher and naturalist, even as a teenager. Dr. Angelo Patri, a renowned Italian American educator, was the principal of the local junior high school who recommended that George enroll at Stuyvesant High School as a student with an aptitude for science. George graduated from Stuyvesant in February 1941 and worked various jobs until shortly after the outbreak of World War II.
George then began three years of service in the U.S. Navy in 1943 at age 19, two years of which were in combat aboard the USS San Francisco, a heavy cruiser that was part of an armada of 100 ships designated as the Fast Carrier and Battle Force in the Pacific Theater of war. The task force’s ultimate objective was the invasion of Japan after a series of raids and occupation of the Pacific Islands. In his own words: “ I was assigned to the plotting room battle station to monitor the range keeper computer being fed data regarding ship movement and enemy target movement or location. Later, I went to school for training on radar for which I was advanced in rank to Fire Controlman 3/c."
George participated in such battles as Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. When the war ended, he and his shipmates participated in accepting the Japanese surrender in Korea and went on a Peace-Goodwill tour in China. He was awarded eight battle stars, among several other medals, when honorably discharged in February of 1946.
After World War II, George met Irma at a picnic, and they married in 1948 while they were both college students. Dr. Rendina's academic pursuits began at New York University, aided by the GI Bill, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1949. After an additional year at the City College of New York, he completed a major in chemistry and a minor in math. He continued his studies at Kansas University receiving a Master of Arts in 1953 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1955. His first professional post was as an instructor at Kansas University in 1955. Following this, he obtained a fellowship from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis which was used for postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. This was followed by a postdoctoral year at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI in 1958.
In 1961, along with his wife and four sons, George embarked on a camping tour of Europe and the Soviet Union in a retrofitted VW microbus. At the time, the Rendinas were among the first American families to travel in the USSR, where George attended the Fifth International Congress of Biochemistry in Moscow and where he delivered a biochemistry paper. They went on a similar trip in 1966, and these journeys (to and from by ocean liner) as well as countless other camping and cultural excursions were typical of George’s love of travel, adventure and education for himself and his children.
From 1959 to 1966, George worked as an instructor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, as Chief of Biochemical Research at the Vineland Training School in New Jersey, and at the Mendota State School in Madison, WI. Both his Masters and his PhD theses as well as both his post-doctoral research were all published. Funds from a NIH grant while at Vineland led to publication on brain enzymes. His research focused on neurochemistry, including studying brain enzymes and errors in protein synthesis in the brain, which lead to intellectual disabilities.
In 1967, Dr. Rendina joined the faculty at Bowling Green State University in Ohio as the first biochemist. He came with a NIH grant which he used to design, construct and equip what would ultimately be used as a senior and graduate research laboratory. He was asked to initiate courses in biochemistry at the sophomore, junior, senior, and graduate levels. While a professor at BGSU he wrote a successful textbook, Experimental Methods in Modern Biochemistry, which was also translated into Spanish.
In Ohio, George and Irma were renowned for their parties where George introduced midwesterners to his brand of New York style with his outgoing sense of humor while tossing homemade pizza pie dough and generally cooking up a storm.
He was a member of Phi Lambda Epsilon, the honorary chemical society, and maintained membership in the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Sigma Xi. As member of ACS, he made many financial contributions to aid needy chemistry students. He obtained emeritus status in each and finally retired in 1984 at BGSU as emeritus professor of chemistry.
George began visiting the Cape in the 1960s, bought property in Brewster in 1976 and moved here permanently in 1984 with Irma. He became an active member of the Salties often participating in volunteer projects. Cultivating, jarring, freezing and consuming the bounty from his substantial garden may help explain his longevity. He and Irma traveled the world in their retirement including to China, Mexico, Italy and Alaska among many other destinations. His zest for life persists in his loving family.
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