William Conrad Pinschmidt Jr., professor emeritus of biological sciences, died Oct. 7, 2018, at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg. He was 91.
Born Oct. 30, 1926, he grew up in Ohio and served in the Navy during World War II. He used the GI Bill to attend Mount Union College in Ohio, and earned a master’s degree from The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from Duke University.
Dr. Pinschmidt taught at Mary Washington for 33 years, retiring in 1987. He and his first wife, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Biological Sciences Mary W. Pinschmidt, were well-respected by students and colleagues. Dr. Mary Pinschmidt passed away in 1998.
Besides teaching on campus, Dr. Pinschmidt spent many summers teaching marine biology in Deltaville, Virginia, on the Chesapeake Bay. He was a world traveler, a co-founder of Fredericksburg’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, a singer in many local groups, and a prolific performer in dinner theater productions.
Wife Ogaenia DelCampo-Pinschmidt survives him, as do daughters Mary Lynn Pinschmidt Graham and Dr. Carol Pinschmidt Hagen ’86, four grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.