Obituaries

James Joseph Kocsis, 98, was lucky to die peacefully in his own bed. As he often said, luck marked much of his life. Born the only child of Rose (Nagy) Kocsis and Imre Kocsis in Barberton, OH, he was sent to St. Procopius School in Illinois for the last three years of high school. Intensive instruction in German, Latin, and science, among other subjects, prepared him well for college and a long career in science.

He graduated from Ohio State in 1943 with a B.S. in biochemistry. After a stint in the Navy, where he assessed the effects of gravity on the body during high-speed flights, he took a job as a research assistant at Armour. He also began working toward his master’s at University of Chicago, eventually earning a Ph.D. in pharmacology. In 1953, he married Grace Eleanor Herzog, a Chicago native and lab technician under one of the few female scientists of the time.

Jim was a professor of pharmacology at Jefferson Medical College (later Thomas Jefferson University) for fifty years. He felt blessed to spend his days doing pharmacology and toxicology research. With Dr. M. J. Silver he collaborated on prostaglandins, with Dr. Robert Snyder on benzene, and with others on taurine, carbon tetrachloride, and DMSO. He especially enjoyed working with graduate and postdoctoral students, critiquing their writing and helping them focus their research.

Jim was enthusiastic about photography, Edgar Cayce, Gurdjieff, and Wayne Dyer. After Grace’s death in 2003, he continued his active involvement with Holy Eucharist Church in Cherry Hill, NJ, and political causes, once taking part in a demonstration for single-payer health care. In his last years, he suffered a major decline in health, which precipitated his move to West Virginia so that his daughter Betsy could manage his care. He missed his dear friends in Cherry Hill deeply, but he was blessed yet again to make new friends among the people who cared for him in WV, first at the nursing home and then at assisted living. Right up to the end, Jim still felt he had much to live for.

He is survived by daughters Rosemary [Tom] Leach; Betsy Kocsis [Mike Kingston]; Joan Kocsis [Peter Kulberg], grandsons Steven [Aryanne Stamp] Kingston & Frank Kingston, and one great-granddaughter, Reagan Kingston. Donations in his name can be made to your favorite charity.

In keeping with his wishes, Mr. Kocsis was cremated. Expressions of sympathy may be extended to the family at www.amoscarvelli.com.