Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home, Inc. 913-367-6403 Dr. George J. Baumgartner 1924 – 2018 Dr. George J. Baumgartner, 93, Atchison, Kansas, died unexpectedly on February 10, 2018 at the Atchison Hospital. He was born on June 27, 1924, to Andrew and Pauline (Miller) Baumgartner. He attended St. Benedict’s Grade School, Maur Hill Prep and was graduated from St. Benedict’s College in 1945 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree, cum laude, in chemistry. As a college student, he worked for the Abbey Student Press. In the summer of 1943, he worked as a mechanical radio inspector for Aircraft Accessories Corporation in Kansas City, KS. The next summer, he worked as a chemist for the Kansas City Testing Laboratory. After graduation from college, he was employed as an inorganic chemist by the Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City, MO. In September 1946, he was admitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame which he attended until 1949. From 1949 to 1950, he attended Ohio State University to which his research professor had transferred. In the fall of 1950, he became instructor of chemistry at Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison. He received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame in 1953. Mount St. Scholastica College appointed him a full professor in 1956. In 1966, he was made chairman of the natural sciences and mathematics division of the Mount College. He was appointed assistant academic dean in 1967 and academic dean in 1968 and became a member of the seven member board of directors of Mount St. Scholastica College. Dr. Baumgartner was an active participant in merger considerations between Mount St. Scholastica College and St. Benedict’s College. In the fall of 1971, he was granted a year’s sabbatical which he took at the University of Maryland studying environmental science and nuclear chemistry. While there, he used the nuclear reactor of the National Bureau of Standards at Gaithersburg, MD, in his studies.