Domermuth Jr., Charles Henry

Charles Henry Domermuth Jr., 80, of Newport, Va., died on Sunday, June 28, 2009. He was born in St. Louis, Mo., on November 16, 1928, to Charles and Emily Pantle Domermuth, and grew up in Owensboro, Ky.

Surviving are his wife of 58 years, Dorothy; son, Chuck Domermuth and wife, Miriam, of Atlanta; son, David Domermuth and wife, Paula, of Boone, N.C.; daughter, Barbara and husband, Joel Walukas, of Cary, N.C.; seven grandchildren, Luke, Mark, Debra, Charlie Domermuth and Max, Emily and Jackie Walukas; his sister, Mary Domermuth Brooke, of Bradenton, Fla., and her children and grandchildren; and the Pantle cousins of Owensboro, Ky., cousins, Audrey Foley, of St. Louis, Mo., and Bill and Dolores Domermuth, of Bradenton, Fla.

Charlie received a BS at Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Ill.; a MS at the University of Kentucky; and a PhD at Virginia Tech. He spent his 40 year working career at Virginia Tech with additional research work with a year in Denmark and two years in Kenya. He began research work in 1954 in the Veterinary Science Department at Tech and helped start the Virginia Tech Veterinary College. He served as chairman of the Division of Agricultural and Urban Practice for several years. In cooperation with others, he developed the hemorrhagic enteritis vaccine for poultry. He helped initiate a graduate program in the field of avian studies and enjoyed mentoring graduate students. His awards include the 1976 Virginia Tech Alumni Award for Excellence in Research. He had many scientific publications. Charlie always felt lucky to be able to work at Tech and have a supportive group of colleagues, especially Dr. Burnie Gross. He retired as emeriti professor in 1992.

The family enjoyed living in Blacksburg for 35 years but when Charlie found a piece of land in Giles County, they built a house on the side of John’s Creek Mountain where Charlie could plant and graft nut and fruit trees, raise cattle and drive a tractor. It was a great joy to be living on this wonderful piece of land observing nature and entertaining family and friends. He was a long time member of the Blacksburg Presbyterian Church serving as Sunday school teacher and deacon. He was a Boy Scout leader of Troop 56. He enjoyed being with and mentoring young people often chaperoning events for his children.

Memorial service will be held 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 2, 2009,at the Blacksburg Presbyterian Church. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be sent to Virginia Tech Veterinary College or the Newport Rescue Squad, 418 Blue Grass Trail, Newport, Va.