Rick Schaeffer

1951 to 2004

Extrel mourns the loss of Rick Schaeffer

On Saturday, October 2, Extrel suffered a great loss.  Rick Schaeffer was killed in an automobile accident on his way home from vacation.  Rick is survived by his wife Alice, who was also injured in the accident, and his three sons, Jason, Bryan and Colby.

Rick's death is felt very deeply by everyone at Extrel.  We are a small, close knit group here and Rick was far more to us than just a co-worker, the Chief Operating Officer and a Partner in the firm.  He was one of the driving forces behind making Extrel a great place to work and, he was our friend.

The health and welfare of Extrel and it's people was one of the central themes in Rick's life for over twenty nine years.  While he will be sorely missed, Rick has left us with the knowledge, skills and strength to continue on without him.  Everyone here at Extrel will work very hard to continue the growth and prosperity of the company Rick cared so much about.

The Rick's death has also left a difficult to fill void in the Mass Spectrometry community. Mass Spectrometry was Rick's passion and he spent the better part of the last three decades tirelessly promoting the science and technology of it.

Rick also had a passion for teaching. He loved to pass on what he knew to the next generation and he was always willing take the time to answer even the most basic and mundane questions.

We here at Extrel would like to honor Rick's memory and continue his service to the Mass Spectrometry Community. To that end, we have formed the Richard A. Schaeffer Memorial Fund. The fund will be used to help promising graduate students attend the American Society for Mass Spectrometry Conferences.

The fund has been set up through S & T Bank, donations can be sent to:

Richard A. Schaeffer
Memorial Fund
C/O Extrel CMS
575 Epsilon Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Make Checks payable to, The Richard A. Schaeffer Memorial Fund.

Many of you have offered your expressions of sympathy and condolences.  We thank you on behalf of Rick's family and the employees of Extrel.