Passing of Henry Brecher
Henry Heinz Brecher, life-long devoted member of the Byrd Center, passed away July 27, 2024, just shy of his 92nd birthday. Henry joined his first polar expedition in 1959 to Byrd Station in Antarctica. He was immediately captivated and joined a subsequent tractor train traveling from Byrd Station to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in 1960, where he took snow measurements for Richard Goldthwait of Ohio State’s Institute of Polar Studies (now the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center). Henry was invited to work with Doc Goldthwait at Ohio State in 1965, marking the start of his 60-year commitment to the OSU Byrd Center. Henry participated in numerous field campaigns to Antarctica, Africa, Greenland, Canada, and Peru, working with various Byrd Center research teams and engaging with countless students.
Henry completed degrees at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Ohio State, and ITC in Delft, Netherlands. While he officially retired from Ohio State in 1988, Henry continued to collaborate at the Byrd Center, and even came in and worked in his office most days to remain an active member of the Byrd research and outreach communities. He was known for his willingness to volunteer, excellent copy-editing prowess, and enthusiasm to join colleagues for a meal. Henry’s spirit was captured in a 2022 interview where he said of his career, “It has been better than working for a living.”
The Henry Brecher Technical Achievement Award and Henry Brecher and Garry McKenzie Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship both honor Henry’s contributions to the Byrd Center. Brecher Glacier and Mount Brecher, both in Antarctica, are named for Henry.
His Byrd Center family will miss him deeply, but we find peace in knowing that he has now been reunited with his biological family that he lost so long ago.
To learn more about his life, please read Who is Henry Brecher?, written by Savannah Stearmer.
Should you have a fond memory or photo of Henry that you would like to share, please email to byrd-contact@osu.edu. These will be shared at a Byrd Center gathering in Henry’s memory to be announced.
Henry Brecher at the Nordkette peak in Innsbruck at 2300 meters above sea level. 2022. Image credit to Emily Mazan.
