Dr. Douglas R. Pfeiffer, 72, passed away on Sunday, March 10, 2019, in hospice in Columbus, Ohio.

He was born June 3, 1946, to Betty Jean (Rogers) and Robert Earl Pfeiffer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He attended Coe College, graduating in 1968 with bachelor degrees in chemistry and physics. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Wayne State in Detroit, Michigan, finishing in 1973.

He completed his professional training with a post-doctoral position at The Enzyme Institute at University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. Doug first found employment at the University of Minnesota as a professor at the Hormel Institute in Austin, Minnesota, building a successful career by securing National Institute of Health funding and leading his research group in numerous publications on his research interests in mitochondrial function and ionophore activity. He later moved to Columbus, where he was a professor in the Medical Biochemistry program at Ohio State University, continuing his research and teaching.

Conventional, rule follower, and politically correct are not phrases you would use to describe Doug. He was unique in his strength of personality, resulting in respect from others, although not always agreement. Doug was respected for his strength of mind and body, his intelligence, and his scientific creativity. He was focused when finding solutions to problems, scientific or otherwise, always paying attention to perfection, be it a single word in a document or the last bit of waxing on a car. He reveled in telling stories of his escapades and experiences from his youth in Cedar Rapids and from times with his colleagues throughout his education and scientific training and career. He was an avid weightlifter. He had a sense of adventure and held a pilot’s license for several years. He loved anything with a motor and kept special care of the cars that he inherited from his father. His big love was boating. He grew up boating on the Cedar River in Iowa, moved to the St. Croix River in Minnesota, and ultimately ended up with a boat suited for the waves of Lake Erie. He had hoped to sail out the Erie Canal to the ocean and down to Florida. Unfortunately, that dream never came to reality.

Doug is survived by his wife, Kimberly M. Broekemeier; two daughters, Marlena Lynn Pfeiffer and Ruth Elizabeth Pfeiffer; granddaughter, Gwyneth Boggess; brother, Roger M. Pfeiffer; sister-in-law, Barb Pfeiffer; and two nephews, Christopher and Justin Pfeiffer. He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert Earl and Betty Jean (Rogers) Pfeiffer.

A short service, burial, memorial celebration, including eating, beverages and memory sharing, will be held on April 6, 2019, in Cedar Rapids. Details to be provided later. Please send email kmbroekemeier1977@gmail.com if you wish to be informed of this gathering. Memorials will be directed to Hospice of Central Ohio. Teahen Funeral Home of Cedar Rapids is assisting the family. Online condolences can be left at www.teahenfuneralhome.com.