Chick Rezek (1923-2017) and Jim Hamilton (1927-2017)
Charles (Chick) W. Rezek, Jr.
Charles (Chick) W. Rezek, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University and West Lafayette resident since 1941, died here on May 28, 2017. He was 93.
Born in Chicago on September 18, 1923, Chick matriculated at Purdue University in September 1941, months before the U.S. entered World War II. Chick enlisted in the U.S. Army at the start of his sophomore year while participating in the ROTC program and was assigned to the Enlisted Reserve Corps. at Purdue. He later served in Field Artillery in North Africa and Italy during World War II as a member of Headquarters Battery, Artillery Division of the 85th Infantry while holding the rank of T5 Technician 5th Grade.
Returning to West Lafayette after the war, he completed his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Mechanical Engineering in 1947 and 1949, respectively and became an engineering instructor at Purdue. Chick was a victim of the bleacher crash that happened at the Purdue Fieldhouse during the Purdue-Wisconsin basketball game in February, 1947. He was under the bleachers when they fell just before halftime. He broke his back and was taken to St. Elizabeth hospital where he later recovered.
Chick earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue in 1955. For his dissertation titled "Measurement of Barrel Motion during Firing of an Automatic Weapon," he conducted his research in the enclosed reinforced concrete machine gun range located in the parking lot north of Ross-Ade Stadium.
Chick was a member of the first class of Purdue Professors to have their names entered into the Purdue Book of Great Teachers at a dedication ceremony held on April 23, 1999 in the West Foyer of the Purdue Memorial Union to honor the University's finest teachers. Purdue President Steven Beering noted that: "[f]or me, the occasion called to mind the words of the American writer Henry Brooks Adams, who said, 'A teacher affects eternity. He can never tell where his influence stops.'"
Chick provided the technical advice for the creation of the first "X-tra Special" (Boilermaker Special IV) used by the Reamer Club at Football and Basketball games and presented to Purdue in October 1979. He also contributed engineering design to the development of portions of the Boilermaker Special V.
James F. Hamilton
James F. Hamilton 90, of Lafayette, passed away quietly at home on Friday, June 9th at his residence, surrounded by his family. He was born on April 8,, 1927, in Edinburgh, IN, the son of Charles Clifford and Orintha Pruitt Hamilton.
James served in the US Navy during WWII, attending Officers' Candidate School. He received his Bachelor's degree from Purdue in 1951, his Masters from Cornell University and his PhD from Purdue in 1962. He was a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue for 27 years. He was widely recognized for his research and received numerous awards, but his true love was always teaching.
He was a man of many interests and hobbies, and was an extremely deep thinker. He loved science fiction and historical reading, but he was probably best known in his later years for the beautiful stained glass artwork he produced. Pieces he made are currently all over the world.