Carl David Gutsche’s remarkable 97-year life and career in chemistry research came to a natural end on August 28, 2018 in Seattle. C. David Gutsche was born on March 21, 1921 to Frank Carl Gutsche and Vera Virginia Mutchler and spent his childhood years with his brother Graham Denton in La Grange Park, IL. He met Alice Eugenia Carr at Oberlin College before they graduated in 1943, and began their courtship in Madison, WI after they started graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin. They were married in 1944; on June 4th of this year, Alice and David celebrated 74 years of devotion to each other and to their three children, Clara Jean (1949), Betha Lynn (1950) and Christopher Glen (1957)
David Gutsche completed his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1947, the same year he began his 42-year career in the Department of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. David engaged with a vast number of students and colleagues throughout his career. Among the many honors and awards he received while in St. Louis, David said the one he treasured most was the Alumni Foundation Teaching Award, given on the basis of feedback from former students. In 1989 Alice and David moved to Fort Worth, TX when David accepted the Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry at Texas Christian University. After David retired at the age of 80, he and Alice lived in Academy Village, Tucson AZ from 2002-2008, and in Horizon House in Seattle, WA since 2008.
Calixarene chemistry was launched by David Gutsche in the mid-1970s when he researched macrocyclic compounds (molecular structures) capable of assuming basket-like formations. He invented the term, calixarene, taking inspiration from the shape of the "calyx krater" Greek vase. Gutsche's reproducible synthetic procedures for his group of macrocyclic compounds, coupled with his new word, set in motion the ever-expanding field of Calixarene chemistry. As David N. Reinhoudt writes in his Introduction to Calixarenes and Beyond, “David is beyond any doubt the godfather of modern Calixarene chemistry who made the major members of the calix family available on large laboratory scale.” In 2008, the indefatigable David Gutsche published an updated Calixarenes: An Introduction (Royal Society of Chemistry, London) while in “retirement” at Academy Village. In 2015, the International Conference on Calixarenes created the C. David Gutsche Award in Calixarene Chemistry in honor of his 55-year career in university teaching and research.
Chemistry was not David’s only passion. His dedication to music started at the age of five, when he was given an accordion. He showed such talent for music that he was soon given piano lessons, and he later took up the oboe. During high school, David played the oboe with the Chicago WPA Orchestra and National Youth Administration Symphony. In St. Louis he began to play the cello, in part because he wanted to explore the extensive chamber music repertoire for strings. For many years, he and other musicians met weekly to play quartets. Contributing to the music community has been a constant commitment. David served on the boards of the St. Louis Conservatory of the Arts, the Fort Worth Chamber Music Society, and the Olympic Music Festival, which he and Alice had attended since the late 1980s. Most recently David helped organize musical events at Horizon House. David's talents also included sailing, poetry, photography and wood working. He and Alice enjoyed many years of sailing, skippering their sloop Divertimento. David also once crewed in the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac. David produced many beautiful photographs and crafted handsome and enduring furniture.
David is survived by his wife Alice, his brother Graham, his children Clara, Betha, and Christopher, his grandchildren Sarah Gutsche-Miller, Alice Gutsche-Smith, and Oliver Gutsche-Smith, and his great-granddaughter Hannah Vande Moortele.