Robert Melvin Eppley, passed away in Parkville, MD on June 26, 2022 at the age of 88.  Bob was born in Morgan County, Ohio, Jan. 7,1934 to Russell Eppley and Goldie Hughes Eppley.  He spent his early years running through the hills of southern Ohio with his only companion, Lad, his faithful German Shepard.  He adapted well to a right shoulder birth injury and soon learned to shoot a 22 rifle as a child, bringing home squirrels, raccoons and rabbits for his mother to cook for their meals.  Bob frequently deer hunted also with both a gun and a bow and frequently provided Venison for the dinner table.

During his early school years, Bob was moved to a different school every year as his parents looked for work in various parts of Ohio. Because of changing schools three times in the 3rd grade, he was kept back to repeat the year.  He moved with his parents to AR in his last year of high school and graduated from Cave City, AR High school in 1953 and entered AR State college the following fall.  In order to pay for his college expenses, Robert would take time off from his education and hitch hike from city to city selling magazine subscriptions door to door.

Bob transferred to Akron University in Akron, Ohio in 1957 after completing 2 1/2 years at AK State, and graduated from Akron U with a BS in Organic Chemistry in 1959. Following his graduation from Akron U he was immediately employed by the General Tire and Rubber company in their laboratory's working to develop methods of manufacturing synthetic rubber compounds.  On the encouragement of his immediate supervisor to return to college for graduate studies, Robert accepted a position as a lab assistant at the University of MD in 1961 where he received a small stipend and the classes he required.

Shortly after entering MD U, he married his wife of 60 years, Carol Oliver, also from Ohio.  They settled in Prince George's county where they raised their two sons, David and Eric.  In 1998 Carol and Bob moved to a home on the Potomac River in Newburg, MD that they gutted and remodeled with the help of their sons. A final move was made in 2016 to a retirement community in Baltimore County.

Robert received a Master's degree and PhD in Organic chemistry from MD university and was employed by the Food and Drug Administration in D.C. for more than 40 years.  During his work as a Research Scientist in naturally occurring toxins, he collaborated with scientist's in many parts of the world, including Russia, China, South Africa and others.  He authored numerous scientific publications based on his research and was always very satisfied with his work.   He also taught Chemistry in the evening division at MD University in College Park for several years.

Robert's very big interest was in metal detecting. He spent many days hunting the waters and beaches of the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay where he found numerous, and sometimes quite valuable, pieces of jewelry, antique coins, many items from the Civil War including a large cannon ball, hundreds of musket balls and numerous Indian artifacts. He belonged to three separate metal detecting clubs and won many prizes including new detectors and unusual coins.

Bob's greatest passion was gardening, primarily flowers and native plants.  He had approximately a hundred various types of orchids in his greenhouse and several unusual plantings outdoors.  A botanist friend once gave him a rare plant that he had brought from China and asked Bob to plant it and see how it would do.  The National Arboretum was very interested in this planting as it was the only one in the US at the time.  The Smithsonian took cuttings from it several times and Robert eventually donated the original plant to the National Arboretum where it continues to thrive.

Bob volunteered in several ways by working as a Master Gardener with the Christmas in April organization helping repair  homes of the elderly and handicapped. His job was always doing whatever plantings and yard work would make their homes more livable and safe.  He had his own Adopt the Road assignment in Charles County that covered a 7 mile area in his neighborhood where he walked and picked up trash every week.  He also was responsible for collecting the state required water sample from the community well in his Newburg community each month.  Bob would willingly help anywhere and in anyway he could.

Dr. Eppley is survived by his wife Carol, his son David and Alice (Roth), son Eric and Traci (Tayman), grandsons James and Connor.  He was preceded in death by his mother, father and grandson, Matthew.

In memory of Bob, it would be appreciated that donations be sent to the Humane Society of Harford County, Maryland, 2208 Connolly Rd., Fallston, MD, 21047 or visit their website at harfordshelter.org .