Louis F. Drummeter Jr., who worked for 32 years at the Naval Research Laboratory and helped design one of the nation's first satellites, died of a heart attack Thursday at St. Agnes Hospital. The Catonsville resident was 86.
Dr. Drummeter was responsible for several discoveries, including the creation of medical equipment used in the "blue baby" operation - a procedure that saves infants born with heart defects - and a number of thermal-sensing instruments.
Dr. Drummeter was born in Pennsylvania in 1921 and attended public school in Minersville, Pa. He received a bachelor's degree in physics from the Johns Hopkins University in 1943 and his doctorate in physics from Hopkins in 1949.
In 1948, Dr. Drummeter started work at the Naval Research Laboratory - where he remained until he retired in 1980 - focusing on infrared spectroscopy, chemical warfare, submarine detection and the management of research and development, his family said.
He was among the scientists responsible for thermal design and testing of the Vanguard - a key task in the early satellite program, which ultimately led to the nation's second successful satellite launch in 1958. He also conducted thermal tests on more than 20 nuclear explosions in New Mexico and the Pacific.
"He really influenced a whole generation of scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory, including myself," said Thomas G. Giallorenzi, who has been at NRL for 37 years.
He served as associate superintendent of the optics division - later the optical sciences division -- acting superintendent of that division and finally associate director of research for the electronics division.
"He was an avid reader, and he had a good scientific mind," said Sid L. Ossakow, superintendent of NRL's plasma physics division, who met Dr. Drummeter in 1981.
Dr. Drummeter married Bette M. Jones in 1944 and the pair lived in Washington before moving to Prince George's County in 1958. Together they moved to the Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville in 1999, family said.
"He had a great interest in learning all his life," said one of his sons, Mark Drummeter of Greenbelt. " ... He read voraciously on every kind of topic just for his own enjoyment."
Dr. Drummeter helped found a Meals on Wheels program and a civic association in Prince George's County.
Family members said Dr. Drummeter was particularly proud of a 1955 robin's-egg blue Thunderbird that he fully restored years ago. After moving to Catonsville, he enjoyed taking tai chi lessons and he wrote hundreds of book reviews, which are available on a Web site, http:--johnhood.hoodkin.com.
Details of services for Mr. Drummeter were incomplete yesterday.
Other survivors include two other sons, Peter Drummeter of Alexandria, Va., and Louis Drummeter III of Martinsburg, W.Va.; a daughter, Deborah Ivy of Fernandina Beach, Fla.; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
john.fritze@baltsun.com