Emeritus Associate Professor Rex Singer from the Division of Environmental Health Sciences passed away on July 30. Singer helped found the Midwest Center for Occupational Health (MCOHS) and twice served as interim director of the division.

SPH dean John Finnegan and Bruce Alexander, head of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, shared the news of Singers’ death and legacy in the personal message sent to students, faculty, and staff shown below.

Dear colleagues,

It is with sadness that we convey the passing of Rex Singer, an important figure in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences.

Rex was an associate professor when he retired in 1995 and also deputy director of the Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety (MCOHS.) He helped found MCOHS in 1977 and the center continues to offer training and student support in the field of occupational health and safety.

Rex also served twice as interim director of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences after directors retired and before new directors came on board. Rex was well known and appreciated by an entire generation of students for his never-ending effort to identify student aid and financing.

Rex graduated from South Dakota State University (SDSU) with a degree in Civil Engineering, and went on to earn a master’s degree in Public Health Engineering from SPH. He taught Sanitary Engineering courses for three years at SDSU and then returned to the University in September 1963 to teach various courses in Environmental Health.

His primary interest was in providing safe, adequate public and private drinking water in the United States and abroad. His work had global impact, particularly through a project he led in the late 1960s that created and administered training courses to develop safe drinking water supplies in numerous less developed countries.

Rex was born March 30, 1933, in Rapid City, SD; he died on July 30, 2016. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Doris; children, Mary (Jim) Bolles and Mark Singer; grandchildren, Nicholas and Andrew Bolles, Grace Singer; brother, Robert (Audrey) Singer; and many nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends.

Visitation will be Thursday (Aug. 4) from 4–7 p.m. with a prayer service at 7 p.m. at the Church of St. Cecilia, 2357 Bayless Place, St. Paul. Mass of Christian Burial will be Friday(Aug. 5) at 11 a.m. with visitation from 10–11 a.m. at the Church of St. Cecilia. Interment will be at Roselawn Cemetery.

Bruce Alexander
Head, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, and Professor

John Finnegan
Dean and Professor, School of Public Health