Collis Ross Geren, Ph.D.'s Obituary
Collis Ross Geren, Ph.D., age 78, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, passed away on January 2, 2024, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He was born on March 28,1945, in Miami, Oklahoma, to Elmer Ross Geren, Jr. and Margaret Ann (Halteman) Geren. Collis grew up in Commerce, Oklahoma, working in the family grocery store and graduated from Commerce High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Northeastern State College, where he majored in science education. Collis married Lois Marie Kountz on March 31, 1967, in Baxter Springs, Kansas. They would have been married 57 years in March.
Collis began his professional career as a high school science teacher in Picher, OK. He loved the job, but higher education beckoned and that led him to a Master of Science in Chemistry from Pittsburg State University in 1972. Two years later he received a Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry from Oklahoma State University for his work on brown recluse venom, which expanded to additional spider and snake venoms when he joined the University of Arkansas Chemistry department faculty in 1976. Collis later became chair of the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. At the time of his retirement in 2010, he was Coordinator of the Arkansas Biotechnology Center, Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Research and Sponsored Programs.
Collis’ priority was always his students. He was inducted into the Teaching Academy as one of the first fellows in 1988. At his retirement, he was the recipient of the first Collis R. Geren Award for Contributions to Graduate Education, which was created in his honor. Among his many awards and honors, Collis received the 2022 Honorary Alumni Award from the University of Arkansas Alumni Association, a NDEA Predoctoral Fellowship, the first Research Career Development Award from NIH awarded to an Arkansas recipient (1979), the American Men and Women of Sciences award, and in 1986, the Distinguished Alumni Award in Teaching and Research. He was also a Fellow of the University of Arkansas Teaching Academy.
Collis was a lifelong car enthusiast, and retirement allowed him more time to focus on his love of restoring vintage automobiles. He started building and rebuilding cars at a very early age. His first car was a go-cart built from a wooden board and a washing machine engine, and he built his first actual car at age twelve. Collis continued building and rebuilding cars for the rest of his life. He had a picture of every car he ever built on the walls of his garage.
Retirement also allowed Collis and Lois plenty of time for their shared love of fishing. They could be found weekly on the banks of the Roaring River catching their limit of trout.
Collis was preceded in death by parents, Elmer and Margaret Geren; and brother, Robert “Bob” Geren. Collis is survived by his wife of 56 years, Lois Marie Geren; daughter, Tanya Johnston, her husband Ahren Johnston and their children, Viktor Ross Johnston, Luka Walter Johnston, Luna Ann Johnston, and Zahra Nadine Johnston; daughter, Katrina Geren; brother, Philip Albert Geren; sister, Roseanne Hartman, her husband, John Hartman and their son Nicholas Hartman; and cousin, Nancy Ewbank.
A memorial service is pending and will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Collis Geren Award, which is a scholarship fund for graduate students, or the Collis R. Geren Award and Patricia R. Koski Award for Excellence in Graduate Education, which is given each spring to an outstanding graduate faculty member, outstanding graduate staff member, and outstanding GSIE staff member. Donations can be made online to the University of Arkansas Foundation, https://giving.uark.edu. Or mailed to: 1125 West Maple St., Fayetteville, AR 72701.
Cremation arrangements are by Nelson-Berna Funeral Home in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
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