John Charles Kirschman, 88, died July 5, 2016. He was the husband of the late Barbara Kirschman. He was the son of the late George H. and Jenny (Jane) Iobst Kirschman. He was to live in New Jersey, Illinois, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Delaware, New York and North Carolina before once again making his home in Emmaus, after he retired.

He attended Muhlenberg College, graduating in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. After graduating, he took a job in New Brunswick, N.J., at the Atomic Energy Commission, as an analytical chemist.

After marrying in 1950, he and his wife moved to Chicago to take up his commission in the U.S. Air Force. From there, he was posted to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Okla. After his service, he obtained his Master of Science degree in chemistry at Oklahoma State University in 1955 and his doctorate in biochemistry at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., in 1960.

When working for Atlas Chemical in Wilmington, Del., in the 1960s, he set up one of the earliest computer-automated labs. In 1968, he moved to Pleasantville, N.Y., to start his career in food toxicology at General Foods.

He was a founder of national and international groups such as the Toxicology Forum and the International Life Sciences Institute.

After moving back to Emmaus and then to Allentown, after his wife passed away, he was still an innovator. He started a croquet club; was a member of the Emmaus Rotary, the Shelter House Society, the Emmaus Historical Society and the Emmaus Moravian Church; he spearheaded the planning and execution of the Emmaus 250th Anniversary Celebration.

At Luther Crest in Allentown, he created the first residents’ directory and effected the installation of closed-circuit TV so that homebound residents could enjoy programs put on in Crest Hall.

He is survived by daughters, Mary Lane, of Allendale, N.J., Jane, of Round Rock, Texas, Donna, of Flemington, N.J.; sister-in-law, Mary Franklin, of Amesbury, Mass.; six grandchildren; one great-grandchild.

Arrangements were made by the Schantz Funeral Home, P.C., Emmaus.