Roland Aaker Trytten, 85, 2809 Algoma St., a longtime chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, died Saturday evening, July 17, 1999, at St. Michael’s Hospital.
Funeral services will be at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, July 22, at Trinity Lutheran Church with the Rev. Kenneth Knutson officiating. Interment of ashes will be in the Phelps Cemetery.
Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Boston Funeral Home and at the church from 1:30 p.m. until the time of services.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Roland Trytten Fund at the UW-SP Foundation, to Trinity Lutheran Church for the music department or to any charitable organization.
Mr. Trytten was born Oct. 15, 1913, the son of Christopher Oscar and Katherine (Aaker) Trytten. His mother died when he was 3, and he was raised by his grandmother and maternal uncle on their North Dakota farm.
He graduated summa cum laude from St. Olaf College in 1935 and earned his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1941.
He began his career as a paper mill chemist. In 1942 he became a teacher at Ripon College and married the former Lorene Anna Thompson.
Mr. Trytten joined the faculty of UW-SP in 1945 and taught chemistry for 37 years. For 25 years he was head of the chemistry department, which he built from a staff of two into more than 20.
He was one of the principal architects of the pre-engineering program and provided the inspiration for the paper chemistry major, one of the first in the country. He helped design the UW-SP Science Building and its addition. He also helped organized the Central Wisconsin Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
After his retirement, the Trytten Fund was set up in his honor to provide scholarships and to fund colloquia. He was made professor emeritus and received the Outstanding Service Award from the ACS for his work with its Central Wisconsin Section.
Mr. Trytten was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church. He was the faculty adviser for the Lutheran Student Association.
Survivors include his wife; six daughters, Katherine (William) Kalke, Milwaukee, Judith Trytten, Chicago, Ill., Christine (Dave) Nelson, St. Paul, Minn., Vurl (Ron Carver) Trytten, Santa Rosa, Calif., Lorre Lynn (Kees Koostra) Trytten, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Alaro (George) Lawson, Seattle, Wash.; one sister, Doreen Smith, Shabbona, Ill.; and 11 grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by one daughter, Mrytle Jane Baltrukonis.
