Professor Constantine “Connie” Tempelis Age 85, of Berkeley, Calif. passed away on November 8, 2012. He is survived by sons Bill and Dan, Daughters-in-Law Corinna and Lizabeth and grandchildren Colin, Andie and Erinn as well as sister Eleanor Austreng and brother James.
Son of a Greek immigrant cobbler and a nurse, Connie was raised in Superior, WI and was the oldest of 4 children. He served in the Pacific with the US Navy aboard the hospital ship USS Repose in 1945-46.
Connie met his wife Nancy at UW-Madison, and married on August 27, 1955. They were married for 57 years until Nancy passed away on March 18, 2012.
He was the first in his family to graduate from college earning a BS in Biology from Superior State College and a PhD in Medical Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1955. He went on to become a professor at the University of West Virginia before moving to UC Berkeley in 1958 where he was a professor in the School of Public Health until retiring in 1994 and Professor Emeritus until 2012.
Professor Tempelis published over 70 scientific articles on immunology, infectious and mosquito borne diseases. He also consulted to the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, and National Institutes of Health. Professor Tempelis took three research sabbaticals, first in 1977 to London, England at the Wellcome Research Laboratory and then to the University of Innsbruck, Austria in 1985 and 1990.
Connie had many passions that included his family, travel and baseball. He played American Legion and semi-professional baseball and was an avid Oakland A’s fan. He also loved Cal Athletics and was a football season ticket holder for nearly 50 years.
A memorial service will be held on at 1 pm, January 19th at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, 401 Grizzly Peak in Berkeley. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to Bill Tempelis, Mechanics Bank ATTN Skye, 1801 Solano Ave, Berkeley, CA 94707. Funds will be used to establish scholarships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California-Berkeley.
(Republished from The San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 3-5, 2013)