Arthur Seymour Brecher

Arthur Seymour Brecher passed away peacefully on February 11, 2021 after a short illness, and is now blissfully reunited with his dear wife, Laura.

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Arthur was born in New York City in 1928, where he lived in the Bronx with his mother, father, and three older sisters. He attended public high school in the Bronx and went to City College of New York on full scholarship receiving a BS in 1948. With the recommendation of his professor at CCNY, he applied and was given a Teaching Fellowship to University of California Los Angeles for Graduate school. He received a PHD from UCLA in 1948. After his PHD he moved to Muncie, Indiana to do a Post-Doctorate at Purdue University. After getting used to the LA weather, he often told the story of crying all the way to Indiana in his car.

Arthur moved to Washington, D.C. after completion of his post-doc, and worked for both the Food and Drug Administration and George Washington Medical School. He met the love and red-head of his life Laura Alma Lyman in the D.C. area while she was working at Johns Hopkins as a pediatric nurse and they joyfully married in 1966.

In 1968, they adopted Benjamin Howard in Washington, D.C., before moving to Bowling Green, Ohio and accepting a position as an Assistant Professor at Bowling Green State University in the Chemistry Department. In 1970, Arthur and Laura adopted Sharon Louise Grace in Toledo, Ohio. The family moved to their home in Ottawa Hills in 1976. They shared 47 years of wonderful marriage together until her passing in 2013.

In his academic pursuits, Arthur produced hundreds of publications over his 47 years at BGSU. He studied the blood coagulation cascade and effect of acetaldehyde upon the coagulation components. This relates directly to the effect of alcohol metabolites upon the enzymes, zymogens, protease inhibitors and glycosaminoglycans, such as heparin. Additionally, he worked on chemically modifying heparin and studying the anticoagulant effects of its analogs, as well as the effect of acetaldehyde on hypertension, hypotension, pancreatitis, and emphysema are being explored. He passionately loved to teach and talk with his students about life and Philosophy as well as explore and collaborate on lab research. He continued to teach at BGSU until his body wouldn't let him anymore at the age of 87!

Arthur loved music and the arts tremendously and had season tickets to the Toledo Opera and Symphony for over 40 years. He relished in taking his kids to hear classical music and for years would play the records of the opera and read the story to his kids before the weekend performances. Supporting the Toledo Museum and the Toledo Zoo were treasured connections in the community.

With his life-long passion as an amateur Gemologist, he traveled all over the United States collecting, digging, and buying rocks, fossils, and semi-precious stones. He made jewelry and so often gave presents to people for acts of kindness, which he so valued as something to always be shared. He was so cherished for his great sense of humor and heartfelt kindness, and known by all as a voracious reader with a witty gift of gab he abundantly shared with family, friends, and strangers alike.

His warmth, love and kindness will be tremendously missed by everyone who met him. He is survived by his daughter, Sharon Spencer; and his son, Benjamin Brecher; and the joys of his life, his grandchildren, Lauren, Zachary, Jordan, Audrey, and Kate.

Services will be held at Robert H. Wick/Wisniewski Funeral Home, 2426 N. Reynolds Rd, Toledo, Ohio, 43615 on Sunday, February 21st, 2021 at 11 a.m., followed by a brief graveside at Eagle Point Cemetery, Rossford, Ohio. The family graciously requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to one of Arthur's favorite charities or community organizations (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Toledo Opera or Symphony, or charity of your heart) May we now carry on his legacy of loving and giving to others.

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