Obituary of John Shenk II Ph.D.

John Stoner Shenk II, Ph.D. 78, of State College, went to be with his Lord on Thursday, September 15, 2011, at Mount Nittany Medical Center. Born July 25, 1933, in New Danville, he was a son of the late William Mellinger Shenk and Elsie Ruth Rynier Shenk. On September 28, 1952, he married Gloria Jane Holzhauer, who survives. He is also survived by four children, Lucinda Neal and her husband, Jay, of Las Vegas, Nev., Suzanne Sichel and her husband, Michael, of Baltimore, Md., Mary Thorwart and her husband, Larry, and John W. Shenk and his wife, Lisa, all of State College; nine grandchildren, Harmony and her husband, Mike, Jeremiah, Matthew and his wife, Jessica, Rachel, Luke and his wife, Lindsay, Jacob, Stephen, Katherine, Victoria; two great-grandchildren, Rose and Isaac; and a sister, Gloria Y. Hocking and her husband, Robert, of Lancaster. John graduated from Penn Manor High School, Millersville, in 1951. He attended Millersville State College for two years and transferred to Penn State, graduating in 1965 in Plant Science. He earned his Masters in 1967 and Ph.D. in 1969, both in Plant Breeding from Michigan State. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 1994 from Penn State, after 25 years of service. He then devoted his energies to Near Infrared Spectroscopy, becoming the world's foremost expert, writing numerous books and papers on the subject. John was a member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in State College. He was a model airplane enthusiast and he built many, and he published books on building and flying them. He wrote books on the genealogy of the Shenk and the Holzhauer families and was an avid gardener. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 20, at Koch Funeral Home, 2401 S. Atherton St., State College. Funeral service will be held 2 p.m. on Wednesday, September 21, at St. Paul's United Methodist Church with Reverend Dr. G. Edwin Zeiders officiating. Burial will be in New Danville Cemetery, New Danville, Pa. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 109 McAllister Street, State College, PA 16801, or to the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, 2215 Millstream Road, Lancaster, PA 17602.