Debaun Funeral Home

Donald Gabriel Dusanic, 76, Professor Emeritus, Department of Life Sciences, Indiana State University, died at home Friday, November 18, 2011 at approximately 9:45pm after a long illness with emphysema and lymphoma. Dusanic was a parasitologist, educator and microbiologist. He was born in Chicago Illinois, December 15, 1934 to Gabriel John and Harriet (Rojewski) Dusanic. He married Roberta Leona Drost in l957 (deceased, February l970.) He married Jane Mitchell Haw Conrad in June of l971. He is survived by his wife, Jane, and two sons, Donald James Dusanic and wife Diane, Robert Scott Dusanic and wife Brenda, two step-daughters, Belinda Schuman, Karla Conrad, and a step-son, Lawrence Allan Conrad and wife Pamela, Grandson Brandon Dusanic and wife Melissa, and their two children: Liam and Kellyn, Grandson Eric Allan Conrad, Granddaughter Sonya Marie Conrad.
He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in l963. In l964 he took a position as an Instructor at the University of Kansas and in l971 was promoted to full Professor in the Department of Microbiology. In l972 he joined the staff at Indiana State University as Professor of Microbiology. In l987 he formed the Interdisciplinary Center for Cell Products and Technologies at ISU and continued his full appointment as Professor of Microbiology until his retirement in l995. He was visiting professor at the University Philippines School of Medicine, Manila, l965, National Taiwan University School of Medicine in Taipei, l971, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung Taiwan, l991 and summers l992-1994. He also was Adjunct Professor Indiana School of Medicine, Terre Haute, l982-1995. Don was a Consultant for Pfizer Inc (Animal Disease Research/Recombinant DNA); Pitman-More (Animal Health Division); Glas-Col Inc, National Institutes of Health National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, National Science Foundation; Cell Biology Program; Member, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Tropical Medicine and Parasitology Special Study Section, l979-l988; Consultant for National Science Foundation; Consultant, National Science Foundation, Developing Countries Program, l980-l984; Consultant, National Science Foundation, United States – Republic of China Cooperative Science Program, Editorial Board, Experimental Parasitology, l980-l984;Guest, Universidade Catholica dePelotas, School of Medicine, Pelotas, RS, Brazil, l980; Consultant, United States Navy Bureau of Medicine, Medical Ecology Department, United States Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2, Taiwan, l971, l975-l978;and several others. His honors include College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor Award, ISU, l990, Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, l985; Indiana Scholar, l984, Recipient, Research and Creativity Award, ISU, l982; Certificate of Appreciation, Foreign Students Association, ISU, l978; New York Academy of Science, l970; Sigma Xi, 1966. He was a member of the American Society of Parasitologists, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, American Society of Protozoologists, American Association of Science, Sigma XI, Midwestern Conference of Parasitogists, Midwest Conference of Immunologists. He supervised 29 graduate students through their Ph.D. and had 12 Postdoctoral Associates. His scientific articles numbered approximately 100. His research was sponsored by National Science Foundation, World Health Organization, National Institutes of Health, Office Naval Research, Indiana State University, University of Kansas, NASA, Center for Research in the Engineering Sciences, and American Cancer Society between l964 and l998.
Don took early retirement from ISU and he and his wife had many pleasant memories of their travels. He was an avid fly fisherman, and his wife joined him on these trips. It did take her a bit of time before she really enjoyed them. They fished in Argentina, New Zealand, Alaska, Guatemala, Honduras, Labrador, The Bahamas, Scotland, and throughout the United States. When the grandchildren came to visit in Terre Haute they all had a chance to fish with grandpa on the lake, along with a stint at a beach in Spanish Wells in the Bahamas. All caught their first fish with him. He enjoyed the accomplishments of his children and had high hopes for the potential of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. – but not only for fishing!. Don will make one last trip to Spanish Wells in 2012.
We especially appreciated the care provided by Dawn Lee of Hospice of the Wabash Valley, the friends who understood that Don did not feel up to visiting, and his wonderful children who wished to see him, but accepted that he needed his privacy at this time. He hoped they would remember the family in better times and know that he loved all of them. DeBaun Springhill Chapel, 85 E Springhill Drive, is in charge of arrangements. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday November 22, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. Family and friends are invited to visit with the family from 5:00 p.m. until service time. In lieu of flowers a donation to Hospice of the Wabash Valley is suggested.