Patrick Gainer, RIP

[sanking]

I learned of the passing of Patrick Gainer this morning, in a message from his daughter.

"Patrick Anthony Gainer, beloved husband and father, passed away at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland on November 28, 2015 at the age of 88. Loving, pious, generous to a fault, humorous, brilliant and talented, Patrick was a retired NASA engineer who loved to recall his work in designing star charts for and with the Mercury astronauts. In addition to his work at NASA, he was oboist for the Peninsula Symphony, Norfolk Symphony, Virginia Symphony and Governor's Palace Orchestra of Colonial Williamsburg. He was an accomplished photographer and photographic researcher. He published an article about “home-brewed” developers for black and white film in Petersen's Guide to Creative Darkroom Techniques. Another of his major articles was for the magazine "Darkroom and Creative Camera Techniques" (November / December 1994 issue) entitled "Non Chromogenic Antiscorbutic Developers for Black and White", which was his humorous way of saying, "I have concocted some developers for black-and-white film that contain ascorbic acid." Note that ascorbic acid is commonly known as "Vitamin C". His new formula for developer involving common "Vitamin C" could be procured at any health food store for significantly less money than traditional developing agents and became popular with the “analog” photographic community as well as some university art programs which greatly appreciated the cost savings. He was also a contributing editor for Photo Techniques magazine.

He was born in Morgantown, West Virginia, on July 14, 1927, the son of Patrick Ward Gainer, renowned folklorist and West Virginia University English professor, and Antionette Kizinski. He served in the US Army from 1945 to 1947, was a graduate of West Virginia University, and worked for NASA Langley in Hampton, Virginia from 1952 until his retirement in 1982. He is survived by five of his six children, 10 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren, including son Patrick Lloyd Gainer and his daughter Erin Gainer; daughter Mary Theresa Gainer Calame and her children Ann Hancock, Joni Robbins, Daniel Moseley, and Mary Riggs; grandson Ian Gainer, son of his late son Robert Michael Gainer; daughter Alice Louise Gainer Standin and her husband William Gary Standin; daughter Frances Ellen Gainer Davey, her husband Robert Davey and their children John and Patrick Davey; and Christine Marie Gainer Barton, her husband Michael Barton and their children Rosemary and Anthony Barton. He is also survived by his brothers Michael and Thomas Gainer, and sister Miriam Goder. Preceding him in death was his beloved wife Rosemary Layman Gainer, with whom he long wished to be reunited. God willing, it is so.
A memorial in his honor will be held by family members in the Spring. At that time, his ashes will be interred in Good Shepherd Cemetery, in Tanner, West Virginia. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 701 Mineral Rd, Glenville, WV 26351, or to West Virginia Public Radio (https://secure.wvpublic.org/donate/) both of which organizations gave him much joy when he relocated to West Virginia upon his retirement."

May he rest in peace.

Sandy

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Sandy, very sad to hear. Pat Gainer was someone I learned a lot from when I was first starting out in photography. The very best to his friends and family.

[Michael Kadillak]

Terribly sorry to hear of his passing. His many contributions to this venue have been around for so long that we tend to forget that each year we get a bit older and life on this earth is not a perpetual thing. He surely packed a lot of living into those years and his legacy will surely continue in part by the materials he selflessly shared with us. God Bless his family.

[cowanw]

I often think of Pat and still enjoy reading his articles. I expect I will always remember him as someone who lived the life of a common sense individual photographer who made a contribution.

[Andrew O'Neill]

That is very sad news. We all learned so much from him, from all his PT mag articles, to all his contributions at Apug. Very sad news.

[Ken Lee]

Thank you for this Sandy.

I made a donation to his local Public Radio station in his honor and encourage others to do so. Thank you for the suggestion.

Pax vobiscum

[IanG]

Thank you for posting Sandy.

Patrick was a valued member of the forums and one of the nicest poster you could engage with, a great guy.

Ian

[David Karp]

Sorry to hear of his passing. I really enjoyed reading his articles as well as his posts on APUG. He seemed like a genuine nice guy and a fun character.

[StoneNYC]

Thanks for posting Sandy, sad but a long and fruitful life.

[j.e.simmons]

I'm also sorry to hear of his passing. I use information he passed along almost daily. He will be missed.