Passing... Rowland "Ron" Mowrey aka PE, Photo Engineer, Feb. 15, 2020

[Michael Kadillak]

Sad news indeed. A few years back I had the good fortune of spending time with Ron in his home for a day as he was showing me his coating rods and video series and where he did his magic. He always was gracious with his time and his wife was the sweetest lady you could imagine. The stories of his service to this country will remain with me. What a gentleman. RIP Ron.

 

[Jon Buffington]

I have not been spending quite as much time here and noticed the other day that I had not been seeing postings by PE and then I saw a reference to his passing. I am saddened and felt compelled to read through all of this. I very much appreciated his sharing freely of his vast knowledge as I certainly gained a better understanding of the topics brought forth.

RIP and Godspeed PE

 

[fdonadio]

I don’t know how I misse these news, but I am sad to know about that. Really sad. Ron will be missed. I know I will miss his words, for sure.

I planned a handful of times on going to Rochester and meeting him in person... should have just gone.

Condolences to the family.

R.I.P., Ron!

 

[mshchem]

My uncle passed away March 2. I'm always thinking of something I want to ask my uncle. It's going to be like that with PE for a long time.

 

[rmazzullo]

I had been away from the original APUG forum for a very long time, found it here, and thought to write to Ron in mid-February just to say hello. He hadn't answered, so I went to pen another note tonight, and after seeing the rather abrupt absence of additional posts here after mid January, thought the worst may have occurred. I did more searching and learned of Ron's passing. I spoke to him by phone many times some years ago, as others have, on many different subjects, and he always went out of his way to patiently teach and illustrate the finer technical details of many facets of photo emulsion chemistry. During and after each phone call I wrote down as many details as I could, and wound up with an amazing set of notes and insights into this truly amazing science and art. We will never again encounter an individual who so selflessly gave of his time and energy to generously pass along his boundless knowledge to others following close behind. I can only hope that he had enjoyed our company on this journey as much as we enjoyed his. Rest in peace, Ron.Thank you for everything! May God bless you and your family.

Bob M.

 

[hadeer]

Will miss his friendly and professional approach to people and technical questions alike. A great loss for all.

 

[chazum0]

I’m so very saddened to hear of PE’s passing. It’s been a few years since I have even logged in to this forum, but he was the first person I thought of when I did. When I saw on his profile that he had not posted since January, I knew something was wrong. As everyone has said, he was so helpful to those on this forum and his vast wealth of photo chemistry knowledge will probably never be matched by another forum member. It was always a delight to see him reply and his presence will be dearly missed.

 

[Fred V]

Very sad event! When I bought almost every chemical to make emulsion, just find he was gone. Big lost to rest people. I never have a chance to ask him a question, but he leave countless posts I could digging into. Thanks, PE! Your light will continue making reaction with sensitive minds.

 

[Stephen Prunier]

I'm a little late but, I wasn't very active here around the time of his passing. When I was it was usually on topics that Ron didn't post to as much. The other day I started thinking about Ron and how I hadn't seen any posts by him in a while. So sadly, now I know why. I always enjoyed what he had to say. He had his challengers but he always kept the high road. Being 62 now and having been around film photography my whole life, to me, Ron was like a direct connection to the past. He was a living, breathing historian of something that we all love. I'll miss Ron. I already do, that's why I found this news today.

Thanks, Ron Mowrey aka Photo Engineer

 

[fs999]

His knowledge will be missed...

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

I'm very late too, having only returned to film photography since the beginning of confinement, and not keeping abreast of news.

PE was a pillar of APUG, and a major reason for so many of us to hang around. His expertise with silver gelatine materials (and so many other things) was made available to the public at a crucial point in the history of the medium. The medium went from being a commodity to almost an antiquity overnight. That it is still available, vital, and alive, despite everything, is a testament to the efforts of so many people like Ron.

We are lucky to have the traces of his efforts online, and with us too.

 

[Helge]

Hey, there is no being late to this.
New posts will be as relevant in a hundred years.
As long as PEs posts can be read he will continue to influence people.

 

[s.meyers]

So sorry to hear... I only knew of Ron through his extensive posts here and was fortunate enough to have been able to purchase his book on emulsion making. I greatly appreciate all he has done and contributed, it sets a high bar to aspire to contribute in a meaningful way...

 

[j-dogg]

Aw man, I loved him, he helped me extensively when I was in my developmental years. You'll be missed dude.

 

[flavio81]

I just found out. So many things to say. This is a (sad) milestone event in APUG and I can't believe how I didn't find out earlier.

Back in Nov.26 2019 Ron implied something about his health not being so good. I told him:

I assure you, dear PE; that you will be eternal in this forum and all the other analog photography forums that might be created in the future.

He was kind to reply:
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...roduction-by-fall.161079/page-24#post-2230634

And I added, then:

Dear Ron, let me explain my choice of words:

I frequent other forums, one of them is a forum dedicated to audio electronics. A forum member named "Zilch", there, posted a ton of valuable articles, graphics, information, tests, on the topic of speaker building. We know nobody on this planet is going to be alive forever. Zilch passed away in 2011. Somebody opened an eulogy thread/topic, it got 26 pages immediately. It was even mentioned in another related forum.

All the good material put out by Zilch got duly organized and collected, and his posts, graphs, etc. are often referenced in new posts, even today (2019). Not only in one online forum but at least two.

I think good friendship, even through the internet, endures through afterlife.

Further down he replied:

I will not last forever, nor will any of the dyes in any color product by any manufacturer.

What a sense of humor! But then, this happened in november, in four months he was gone. Really soon.

I registered my account of APUG after finding out who Ronald Mowrey was. It was incredible!! He is named as an inventor on the KODAK K14 KODACHROME PATENT!! Now after his obituariy I found out he was also a Captain at the USAF, how more badass could Ron be?

In my opinion, PE was the crown jewel that made APUG stand out far above any similar forum. What a generous individual, with infinite patience to explain things that were hitherto only known to insiders within Kodak or other major film makers. A wealth of knowledge that I hope can be organized and filed for the future generations to come.

I have always wished to meet PE but sadly i don't even live in the same country. But I wrote many times to him here at this forum, often not really to ask questions, but to thank him again and again for his generosity and wishing he is fine. Why? What can I say? Within the world of photography, the guy was my idol, myself an Engineer, this was the ideal I aspired to -- to be aware and knowledgeable about this subject down to the deepest level of detail.

I am very sad for this loss but on the other hand we can't be so selfish and expect Ron to be with us forever like the humble sage he was. He also deserves to rest in peace. I'm pretty sure this was an awesome man and his legacy will live on in his family, at RIT, Kodak, and of course here. He will never be forgotten.

 

[doctorpepe]

Very sorry to lean of his passing. I had wondered why he had not posted in some time, nor responded to a few direct inquiries on photochemistry. While I had never met him, I was always impressed with the breadth and depth of his knowledge on so many topics. He was always promptly responsive, so I suspected that something was up. I will miss him.

 

[GLS]

Only just found out about this. My condolences to his family and friends.

What a huge loss also to the analogue photography community. He will be missed.

 

[PhotoJim]

I only heard of Ron's passing yesterday. Came back here after years away, and I realized he would be up there in age. Sure enough.

I live in Canada, but had the good fortune of meeting Ron at Eastman House in Rochester one year when I had some meetings in Toronto and decided to stay a few extra days. He talked a lot of shop with me and introduced me to Mark Osterman, who let me look at a lot of the great material in the library there. It really was an amazing day. I had a lot of great interactions with Ron online, of course, too.

Share what you know. Unless you teach it to others, it will be as transient as we all are destined to be.

 

[StepheKoontz]

I always valued his posts and while a lot of what he was talking about was over my head, I did learn from him and he will be missed.

 

[SchwinnParamount]

Oh shit! Ron, I am nonplussed. None of us live forever but I just assumed there would always be a Ron Mowrey. Luckily for us, Apug (Photrio) can preserve all of his posts and provide those of us who appreciate his knowledge a digest of sorts.

Ron, here's to you - 11 months late but you are NOT forgotten!

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Remembering PE on his first death anniversary, thanking him for the knowledge he brought to photrio/apug and shared very generously with everyone, and cherishing the several interactions I had with him on various threads and DM. PE's absence is felt in almost every interesting thread on chemistry and it's a void that can be never filled. However, the kindle PE lit in the minds of many continues to burn.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

He's been gone for a year, but certainly not his spirit!

 

[dutchsteammachine]

Bless
People aren't gone until they are forgotten.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I still think about him even when I am not on this website. We had a number of PM conversations over the years.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Darn Ron could you just answer one more question!!