Roger Nayland Kust passed away on February 24, 2022 at the age of 86. He was born on April 20, 1935 in Villa Park, Illinois, to Victor and Millicent Kust (née Crabtree). He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Angela Black of Terre Haute, Indiana; his wife, Claudette Ann Boutin of Fall River, Massachusetts; and his brother, Richard, of Irvine, California. He is survived by his two sons, Paul and Peter, daughter-in-law Shu-Chien Liang, and two grandchildren, Shu-Jin Victoria Kust and Chow-Fong Claudette Kust.

1. Roger graduated from York Community High School in Elmhurst, Illinois in 1953. Having received a 4 year Naval ROTC scholarship, he attended Purdue University, graduating in 1957 with a B. S. In Chemistry. While at Purdue he joined the Presbyterian Church. Also at Purdue he met his first wife Angela.

2. Upon graduation he was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy and served three years. While in the Navy he was designated as an Officer of the Deck (Underway) and a Command Duty Officer, ans was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade). He participated in the amphibious landing of a battalion of Marines in Lebanon in 1958.

3. While at Purdue he received a National Science Foundation Fellowship for graduate study which he use to attend Iowa State University after leaving the Navy. There, he earned a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry with minors in Inorganic Chemistry and Mathematics. He received a post-doctoral fellowship from the National Institutes of Health and attended Texas A&M University.

4. Roger joined the chemistry department of Texas A&M in 1963 and in 1964 received an appointment to the chemistry faculty of the University of Utah. While there he mentored 3 Ph.D. students and 2 Masters degree students. His family grew with the births of sons Paul in 1965 and Peter in 1967. In 1970 he was elected an Elder for the Wasatch Presbyterian Church.

5. In 1971 he left the university and took a position with the Kennecott Copper Corporation at its Ledgemont Research Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts. He worked on the Ocean Manganese Nodules Process team and invented the Cuprion process, a hydro- metallurgical process for extracting copper, nickel, cobalt, and molybdenum. This process was rated by the Bureau of Mines as the best of several processes which had been developed internationally. He also worked on the In-Situ Mining process to produce copper from deep-lying porphyry deposits by injecting solutions into the deposit and pumping up the liquor bearing copper. He also developed a process to recover copper and zinc from waste from brass mills. In 1972 he became a Trustee for Sudbury Presbyterian Church and in 1976 was elected as an Elder. In 1976 his wife Angela was killed in an automobile accident. In 1979 he married Claudette Boutin

6. He left Kennecott in 1979 to join Exxon Minerals in Florham Park, NJ, and became manger of the research and development group. He built a laboratory facility in Houston, TX and transferred the research group to Houston, TX in 1983. He and Claudette joined the Windwood Presbyterian Church of Houston in 1984.

7. In 1987 he left Exxon and became a consultant in industrial chemistry. He worked primarily with Magnolia Research/Binder Sciences in the Woodlands, TX for over 25 years, developing oil drilling fluids and fracturing fluids.

8. Roger has authored over 22 scientific and industrial papers and 9 U.S. Patents.

9. Roger was active in the Windwood Chancel Choir for over 35 years. He was elected to the Session in 1994 and chaired the Long Range Planning committee. He participated in the selection of Windwood's current property, participated in the design of the church, and assisted in the purchase of the Allen Organ. He became a Trustee in 2007 and assisted in the filing of the lawsuit to clarify Windwood's property rights.

Roger is greatly missed by friends and family. In lieu of flowers, please give donations to either Habitat for Humanity or the Windwood Presbyterian Church of Houston.