Necrology
Norman Eugene Mausolf '64
Dec. 22, 1942-Mar. 17, 2023
Norman Eugene Mausolf ’64 died in Springfield, Va., on March 17, 2023. Born on Dec. 22, 1942, in Mineola, N.Y., he grew up in nearby Manhasset and came to Hamilton from Manhasset High School. On the Hill, he majored in chemistry. He sang in the Glee Club as a freshman and was a member of the International Relations Club in his junior year. For his final three years, Norm, a violinist, played in the College’s Chamber Orchestra and was also in the French Club.
His academic achievement was distinguished. Graduating with honors, Norm was awarded the Underwood Prize in Chemistry as a senior and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. While not awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, he did receive an honorable mention and was one of six Hamilton students in 1964 to receive a New York State Regents College Teaching Fellowship, awarded to those who intend to pursue graduate studies that will lead to teaching careers.
From Hamilton, he began graduate study in chemistry at Columbia University with the intention of preparing for an academic career, but ultimately left to take a job with the Sun Chemical Corp. in its Rosebank, Staten Island, office. From there he was drafted into the U.S. Army in October 1966 and was assigned to the Army’s Criminal Investigation Laboratory, first in Augusta, Ga., for one year and then for two years in Frankfurt, Germany, as part of the then newly formed 15th Military Police Brigade. His assignment as a forensic chemist set him on his subsequent career path.
Honorably discharged in September 1969 with the rank of specialist 5, Norm joined the Michigan Department of Public Health in its Crime Detection Laboratory. It was there in 1970 that he met Ruth Ann Buchko, a native of McKees Rocks, Pa., and also a chemistry major who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. They were married on Sept. 30, 1972, and would have two daughters and a son.
That same year, he left the lab in Lansing to take a position at the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C., as a forensic chemist in its Mid-Atlantic Regional Laboratory. He and Ruth resided first in Hillcrest Heights, Md., and then in 1977 they moved to Cheverly, Md., their home from then on. In 1999, Norm retired from the DEA, but took a position in the crime lab of the Prince George’s County Police Department, from which he retired again in 2010.
Norm was a man of parts. He spoke both French and German, the latter of which he studied on the Hill, most memorably with Professor Otto Liedke. He served as scoutmaster for Cheverly’s Pack 257 when his son Daniel was a Scout and was also active in the Cheverly Swim & Racquet Club. He did not give up his violin upon leaving Hamilton but continued to perform in church and played chamber music with fellow enthusiasts. He was active in Cheverly’s St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church and later in Redeemer Lutheran Church in Hyattsville, Md.
He was a gardener, dessert baker, and soap maker, and he also navigated a kayak and sailing dinghy. In an alumni survey, he acknowledged “an unfortunate weakness — mania — for collecting/accumulating stuff. I major in cameras (80-90 or so) and books (in the thousands? I have no idea) and minor in Lionel [model trains] and old classical 78 records & Victrolas. My working philosophy is you never know when you may need it.”
Norm valued his time at Hamilton. As he wrote in his 40th reunion yearbook: “Herr Liedke used to tell us, ‘Gentlemen, sie müssen arbeiten.’ I did learn to work hard — today it would be called ‘multitasking.’ But more than that, Hamilton stimulated a love of learning and a curiosity which still persists.” Norm’s large personal library was testament to that.
Norman E. Mausolf was predeceased by his wife and is survived by his three children and four grandchildren.
