John D. McCollum, 83, a retired Amoco Oil chemist, died in Naperville, IL in September.  John was born in Evanston, IL in 1929.  He graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1949, and he went on to earn A.M and Ph.D. degrees in organic chemistry under P.D. Bartlett at Harvard.  He was hired into the Standard Oil Company in 1953 as a Project Chemist.  He held positions of increasing responsibility as the company evolved to become the Amoco Oil Company, until his retirement in 1989.  John was the author of several patents and publications over the course of his career.  His principal areas of research focus included the development of beneficiation and liquefaction processes for coal and shale.  John held memberships in Sigma Xi, the American Institute of Chemists, the Chicago Catalysis Society, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and he was a 60-year member of the American Chemical Society.  John is survived by Jean, his wife of 62 years; his daughter Anne and her husband Arlen; his son David and his wife Shari, and two grandchildren William and Rachel.  He will be ever remembered as a brilliant, gentle, funny, thoughtful and compassionate man.