Dr. Charles Rohde

Charles J. Rohde Jr., graduated from Wisconsin State University-Whitewater in 1940 and earned his master’s in 1942 at Marquette University. In 1943, he served in the military as a first lieutenant with the U.S. Public Health Department, stationed at Crab Orchard Ordnance Plant in Herrin, where his entomology skills were used in malaria control. It was here that he mer his wife, Ruth McVicker Kirwan. In 1946, he and Ruth were married. They moved to DeKalb, Il. where they raised their five daughters and he accepted a position in the biology department at Northern Illinois University. In 1955, he received his doctorate in soil ecology from Northwestern University. In 1966, he received a Fulbright award and moved the family to Tehran, Iran, where he worked at the Institute of Public Health. It was here he discovered two species of mites. Additionally, he was a noted entomologist, having published numerous articles. In 1977, he retired after 31 years at NIU, and he and Ruth moved to Newport, Ore., where he pursued his love of fishing and hunting.