#22 - Cline, Edward T.

Edward Terry Cline (1914 – 1998) was born in Ischua, New York.  He did his undergraduate studies at Antioch College, where he was a co-op student and worked for DuPont at their Niagara Falls plant while pursuing his B.S. in Chemistry. 

Cline went on to Ohio State University, where he earned a PhD in organic chemistry under Dr. Cecil Boord by synthesizing type 3 and 5 hydrocarbons.  During his graduate school days, he was elected to both Sigma Xi (Scientific Research Honor Society) and Phi Lambda Upsilon (National Chemistry Honor Society).  

After receiving his Ph.D., he went to work for DuPont’s Central Research Department in Wilmington, Delaware – the company’s principal scientific division and the foremost industrial laboratory devoted to basic science.  During his 41-year career with DuPont, Cline obtained ten patents for synthetic textile fibers.  He developed wool-like protein fibers from milk casein, corn zein, and soybean protein.  In the early 1960s, Dr. Cline did research on air-activated chemiluminescence using tetrakis dimethylamino ethylene.  His work caught the attention of the U.S. Navy for potential use in emergency signaling, though the project was ultimately discontinued due to the high cost of Cline’s product. 

Edward was an active member of his church in Wilmington, where he served on the Administrative Board, Membership Committee, Nominating Committee, and Building Committee.  Upon his retirement from Dupont, Edward and his wife, Lucy, moved to PRC on December 31, 1981. Lucy’s brother, Rev. W. Hubert Porter, was already living at PRC.  Edward and Lucy both had a wide range of interests.  They became active members of both the PRC and PMC, as well as the Town of Penney Farms.  Edward served on the Town Council for four years; he oversaw the operation of the drinking water system and the Natatorium (the swimming pool once located where Penney Place now stands).  In 1994, he served as President of the Residents’ Association.  It was said at his Memorial Service, “Perhaps Ed’s greater contributions to the Community were his thoughtful counsels regarding the financial and medical aspects of the Community in the Self-Study Program of 1993.”

In April 1988, Dr. Cline was honored by the American Chemical Society (ACS) for his “lifelong association with DuPont” and for being a member of the ACS for over 50 years.

Edward died in the Pavilion on March 6, 1998.  Lucy followed on July 23, 1998, at the Hagen Care Center.  They are both buried in the PRC Cemetery.

100 Years Ago:  October 2, 1925 

The second family of residents arrived from Kenton, Ohio.  They were the Rev. G.F. Kinnear with his wife and son, Riley.  By the end of October, there were seven families and twenty-two residents in the former Dowling-Shands Lumber Mill cottages on the St. Johns River at the mouth of Governors Creek.