Arthur S. Pavlovic, 98, of Morgantown, passed away peacefully on Feb. 22, 2024. He was born on Dec. 2, 1925, in Bedford, Ohio, the son of the late Bohumil and Anastasia (Javorsky) Pavlovic.
Arthur was educated in the public schools of Maple Heights, Ohio, and graduated from the high school in June 1943. He immediately enlisted in the U.S. Navy as an apprentice seaman and was enrolled in the Navy V-12 engineering program at Yale University. In January 1946, he graduated with a bachelor of engineering degree in electrical engineering and was commissioned as an ensign in the Navy. After serving on a Navy goodwill tour, and then as assistant navigator on the U.S.S. Mitchell delivering U.S. military personnel and their family’s home from Japan, China, and the Philippines, Arthur was detached from the Navy and returned to Cleveland. He enrolled in the master’s program in physics at Case Western Reserve.
On June 21, 1947. Arthur married Barbara Wise, his high school sweetheart.
He received his master’s degree in May, 1949 and immediately proceeded to Columbia University in New York City to work toward a PhD degree in Nuclear Physics. He set his studies aside for a time in favor of employment, but later got an opportunity that he could not pass up at the Penn State University where he was employed and could work on a PhD. After five years of effort Art received his PhD in 1956. Art chose to join the metals laboratory of Electro Metallurgical Company (later renamed Union Carbide Metals) in Niagara Falls, New York. After three years there, Art longed for the nine month contract of Academia so he accepted a position as an assistant professor in the Physics Department at West Virginia University and moved his wife and four children to Morgantown in 1959.
Art enjoyed teaching and doing physical research. With the aid of graduate students, and with his ability to gain federal funding, he created a very successful laboratory for the preparation of materials and the measurement of the physical and chemical properties of new solid materials.
In 1967, Art requested to take a Sabbatical Leave of one year to work in Grenoble, France at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research). There he learned some new techniques and the preparation of rare earth metals and alloys. He was also able to visit other laboratories in Europe. Subsequent sabbaticals took him back to France and later to England.
Art served as chairman of the WVU Physics Department during two different time periods: 1968-75 and 1985-90. Art remained at the University until he retired in 1990. He continued to do research in the Department until 2000.
His retirement years allowed Art to spend more time traveling with his wife Barbara and to pursue interests such as sailing, wood carving, reading, and involvement with the local Lifelong Learning Institute and the XX Club. Art loved to regale listeners with his stories, old and new. He was always eager to meet and converse with people who were intrigued, as he was, with ideas and the interesting trajectories of people’s lives. He met the ordinary trials of life with humor and optimism, and despite being a deep thinker he also had a hilarious goofiness that was contagious. He had an incredible memory for the details of the lives of family members and friends and was a shrewd judge of integrity and character. His advice was valued by many students, friends, and family. His heart and spirit will be missed by many.
Arthur is survived by his wife, Barbara; his brother, Richard and wife Dona; sons, Karl Richard and wife Kris, Stephen Keith, Noel Bruce and wife Sarah; daughter, Paula Ann and husband Phil. He loved and was loved by his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Morgen, her husband James and son Kolya, Claire, her husband William and daughters Grace and Nora; Nathan, his wife Emma and daughter Darcy; Emily and her husband Sean; Dwight and his wife Liz; Anastasia, her husband Aaron and daughter Adelheid; Noelle and her husband Paul and celebrated all their successes.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Brooks Bird Club, The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, or Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Hastings Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.
A celebration of life for friends and family will be planned for March 23. A full obituary with time and location will be updated at www.hastingsfuneralhome.com.
Condolences:
www.hastingsfuneralhome.com
