Thomas A. Montzka

Thomas A. Montzka, 83, died at home December 9, 2020.  He was born in Washington, D.C. to Margaret and Alfred Montzka. Tom is survived by his wife of 61 years, Joanne; son, Stephen (Denise) of Boulder, CO; daughter, Karen Wassarman (David) of Madison, WI; and son, Kenneth (Trish) of Needham, MA. He has 5 grandchildren, Maria and Dianna Montzka, Douglas and Kelly Wassarman and Isabel Montzka and one great grandchild, Eloise Montzka.

He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1954, Oberlin College BA in 1958, University of Rochester PhD in organic chemistry in 1962.

He worked at Bristol Myers Squibb for 37 years. He was a Senior Research Chemist and Research Fellow in Syracuse, NY, and Director of Computer Drug Design in Wallingford, CT. His early work was in developing antibiotics, gastrointestinal drugs, and non-addicting analgesic drugs. Later in Wallingford, he worked on sleep enhancing drugs, anticancer drugs and antiviral drugs for AIDS.

Tom was a lifetime golfer and enjoyed tennis, racquetball and bowling.  He was active in coaching the boys in Little League baseball as well as attending multiple softball, baseball and soccer games for the kids. Bridge was high on his list of activities, as was working on the computer.