Hale Vandermer – formerly of Charleroi

August Hale Vandermer was a beloved husband and father, internationally recognized epidemiologist, skilled craftsman, avid sailor and skier, Eagle Scout, witty friend and wise counselor. He died from hepatic failure on April 18, 2019, in Prince Frederick, Md. Hale was loved and respected by virtually everyone fortunate enough to know him. He grew up in Charleroi and graduated from Charleroi High School with the Class of 1956. After earning a bachelor’s degree from California State Teachers’ College of Pennsylvania in 1960, Hale joined the staff of the newly created Peace Corps under Sargent Shriver. He taught survival skills to volunteers at the Peace Corps training camp in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. He particularly enjoyed “losing” volunteers in the vast Puerto Rican forests, requiring them to find their way back to camp alone with minimal provisions and equipment. After returning from Puerto Rico, Hale enrolled at the University of Oklahoma and earned a master’s degree in land use planning and a Ph.D. in environmental health. Following a stint with the state of Oklahoma, he went to work for the federal government. He was a senior epidemiologist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs and became an expert on the effects of agricultural pesticides on human health. He also served as the EPA’s representative to the United Nations Environmental Program. During the 1970s, Hale studied and directed the analysis of human breast milk samples. He coauthored an EPA report that disclosed that nearly all breast milk from American women was contaminated with pesticide residues. This revelation greatly alarmed the American public and horrified international pesticide producers. The report achieved wide acclaim. Long after it was published and the furor had died down, Hale would facetiously tell acquaintances that the human milk study was the favorite scientific endeavor of his career because he so enjoyed collecting the samples. Hale loved to ski and sail, and he delighted in using his considerable skills as a craftsman. He and his adoring wife, Barbara, skied at venues throughout the United States, Europe and South America. In 1996, he and Barbara purchased a 36-foot sailing sloop, eponymously named Van der Mer (“from the sea”) and spent countless hours over the succeeding years sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. They also sailed to Newport, Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard and in 2006 spent seven months island hopping in the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Although he had no formal architectural training, in 2004 Hale designed and oversaw construction of the couple’s retirement home on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. In 2012, Hale and Barbara studied, and later joined, the Baha’i Faith. They fully endorsed the Baha’i principles that there is one God; that throughout history he had sent a series of prophets —Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and others — to proclaim His will for their own times; that science and religion were fully compatible; and that all people — regardless of gender, country of origin, race, skin color, or religion — are equal in the eyes of God and society. Hale was predeceased by his parents, August Harvey Vandermer and Genevieve Hale Vandermer. In addition to his wife, Hale is survived by four daughters and their families: Elizabeth Lacey of Dixon, Calif., and daughters Amelia and Audra; Jennifer and Richard Bennett of Exeter, Calif., and their daughters Olivia, Lily, Lucy and Lena; Laura and Scott Barmby of Chesapeake Beach, Md., their daughter Julia, son Rex and Rex’s son — Hale’s great-grandson! —Grayson; and Kathryn Geminder of San Francisco, Calif. He is also survived by his sister and her family: Karen and John Mollenauer, their three children and five grandchildren. A Baha’i memorial service to celebrate the life of August Hale Vandermer will be held at 4 p.m. June 23 in the Chesapeake room at Chesapeake Beach Resort and Spa, Chesapeake Beach, Md. The service will be followed by a two-hour cruise on Hale’s beloved Chesapeake Bay. All are welcome. As space is limited for the cruise, attendees are requested to RSVP by June 14 to Laura Barmby at barmby.laura@gmail.com or 240-372-1863.