Obituary of Wallis Lloyd

Dr. Wallis "Wally" Lloyd, 85, died at his home on January 4, 2012. He was born on July 24, 1926, in Harrisburg, the son of the late Paul and Mary Watters Lloyd. He is survived by four children: Paul and his wife, Dorothy, of Tempe, Az.; Brian and his wife, Karen, of Greensboro, N.C.; Sharon Evans and her husband, Marc, of Phoenixville; Kevin and his wife, Rosa, of Glendale, Az.; two sisters: Barbara Hiller, of State College and Peggy Adam, of Arlington,Va. and seven grandchildren: Matthew, Samantha, Savannah and Delaney Lloyd and Travis, Eric and Rebecca Evans. He served in the U.S. Army following WWII. Wally graduated from Penn State in Chemical Engineering in 1949. He then studied at the University of Minnesota where he obtained a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 1954. He married Patricia Wold of Crookston, Mn., on June 25, 1955. They moved to Berkley, Ca., where he worked for California Research Corporation. They then moved to State College in 1956, where Wally taught in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Penn State and was involved in the Atoms for Peace Program. From 1963 to 1994 he worked for Cannon Instrument Co., State College, where he eventually became Vice President. He developed automatic viscometers to measure the viscosity of liquids and was involved in other research and development projects. After retiring, he returned to Penn State as an Adjunct Professor in Chemical Engineering. For the past fifteen years he has been the co-director of the Tribology Group in Chemical Engineering. He enjoyed working with students and guided 22 graduate students to the completion of their degrees. In 2003 he helped launch the Bio-diesel Research Group at Penn State, which has provided hands-on training for over 60 chemical engineering undergraduates. The program converts waste cooking oil from campus fast food facilities to bio-diesel fuel used in the farm tractors on campus, making for a greener planet. He also helped extend the technology for use in a 15 million gallon per year bio-diesel plat in Georgia. In 2004 he received the Penn State Engineering Society Distinguished Service Award. Throughout the years, he also was involved in many community activities. He was appointed by the Borough to look into a Sign Ordinance in the early 1960's which he helped write. In the late 1960's he was appointed to the Planning Commission and in the late 1970's he was appointed to the Borough Council, In 1967, as President of the Chamber of Commerce, he wrote a letter to the then Dean of the College of Arts and Architecture suggesting that the university work with the borough to have an arts festival. Thus the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts was started. In 1992 he received the Borough Legacy Award for outstanding contributions to the quality of community life. For many years he served as Advisor to Alpha Chi Sigma (a professional chemistry fraternity). In addition to working with and advising young people on campus, he was a devoted father and grandfather to his children and grandchildren and enjoyed working, coaching, traveling and playing with them. He will be greatly missed by enumerable people whose lives he touched. Services will be private at the convenience of the family. Contributions can be made in his memory to The Central Pa. Festival of the Arts, 403 S. Allen St., State College, Pa 16801 or the Biodiesel Research project, Chemical Engineering Dept., P.S.U. or Center Home Care, Suite 6, 2437 Commercial Blvd., State College, 16801. Funeral arrangements will be made through Koch Funeral Home. Online condolences may be made at www.kochfuneralhome.com.