Obituaries of the members of the Ohio Academy of Science Report of the Necrology Committee, 2007

Ohio Journal of Science, The, Dec, 2007 by William R. Burk

Active on committees, Chorpenning served on the following groups: Epidemiological Committee (1949), the Cooperative Study Group on Treponemal Immobilization, World Health Organization (1953-1955), OSU'S Curriculum Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences (1964-1966), the College of Biological Sciences (Curriculum Committee, 1966-1967), the Faculty Senate of the College of Arts and Sciences (1968-1970), the Graduate Committee of the Department of Microbiology (1968-1969), the University Senate (1973-1976), the Advisory Committee on Campus Grievances (1973-1975), and the Ohio Faculty Senate (1974-1976). He chaired the Curriculum Committee of the Department of Microbiology (1978-1981).

Frank Chorpenning focused his research on the epidemiology of typhus and syphilis and on the maintenance of an abiotic supply of blood for transfusion. In addition to publishing numerous papers, he edited Clinical Pathology Procedures, Brooke Army Hospital, coauthored An Outline and Supplementary Material for General and Pathogenic Microbiology (OSU Press, 1974), and authored the laboratory manual Immunology and Immunochemistry (OSU Press, 1975). He presented papers at a number of conferences sponsored by: the National Institutes of Health (1952), the World Health Organization (1954), the American Society for Microbiology (1956, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976-1978, and 1980), the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (1967, 1969, and 1971 - 1979), the American Association of Blood Banks (1967), the 13th International Congress of Blood Transfusions (1972), the 3rd International Congress of Immunology (1977), the U.S.-Japan Intersociety Microbiology Congress (1979), and the Association for Gnotobiotics (1980).

In addition to membership in OAS, Frank Chorpenning held memberships in the following associations: the American Association of Immunologists (1961; Emeritus, 1983); the American Society for Microbiology (1950; fellow; Emeritus, 1981); the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1949-1976); the American Association of Blood Banks (19561975); and the Association for Gnotobiotics (1971). Chorpenning was a member of the honorary societies Beta Beta Beta, Sigma Xi, and Alpha Sigma Phi. Having an interest in the history of Ireland, Chorpenning joined the Shamrock Club.

Although he was not Irish, Frank Chorpenning celebrated Saint Patrick's Day by marching in the annual parade. He nurtured an interest in fiction, writing a historical novel, The Man from Somerset. He also wrote the privately printed A Chorpenning History, a genealogy of his family. In addition to these works, Chorpenning privately published his autobiography On to the 21st Century.

Wife Anne Laurie Chorpenning predeceased Frank Chorpenning. They had married 2 July 1942 in Abilene, Texas. Also deceased are brothers John, Harry and A1; and sister Lois Gadd. Surviving Frank Chorpenning are son Jonathan E. of Felicity, Ohio; daughters Ann Kay Coffee of Saint Augustine, Florida, Kathleen Row of New York City, Janie Aziz of Cairo, Egypt; 8 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren, and sister Virginia Bentz of Dublin, Ohio. The family held calling hours at the DeVore-Snyder Funeral Home in Delaware, Ohio and a funeral at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Delaware, Ohio, both on 20 December 2006. Chorpenning was buried 21 December 2006 at Oak Grove Cemetery in Marietta, Ohio. Interested parties may consult American Men and Women of Science (1958), Leaders in American Science (1959), the Dictionary of International Biography (1968), the International Who's Who in Community Service (1975), an obituary in the Columbus Dispatch, and a curriculum vita on file in the office of OAS.