Stephen Charles King Jr., M.D., Ph.D., of Kempner died on May 23, 2023 in Temple at the age of 78.
Graveside services will be held at Oak Hill Cemetery on May 27 at 2:30 p.m. Visitation will take place prior to the service at Sneed-Carnley Funeral Chapel from 1-2 p.m.
He was born on Dec. 26, 1944 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
He grew up in Hammond and New Orleans, La., and Fort Stockton, Texas. He graduated from Fort Stockton High School in 1961 at the age of 16. He then graduated from Rice University with a B.A. in mathematics (1966).
For his first job (1966-68), he did programming work for the Apollo mission at NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center in Clear Lake. From 1968-77 he devoted himself to academic research. As a graduate student, he studied interrelated aspects of ecology, biology and chemistry with work spanning three institutions: Rice, Princeton University and the University of Houston.
He ultimately received a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry for his work with Robert L. Matcha, Ph.D. (University of Houston, 1971-75), developing the scale of ideal charges useful in predicting dipole moments of diatomic molecules. He continued this work as a postdoctoral fellow (1975-77), publishing five papers on the theory of the chemical bond.
After his work in academia, Dr. King continued research in private industry. He joined Biotics Research Corp. in Houston (1977-82) as director of research. There, he made significant contributions to enzyme-based therapeutics, among many others.
Concurrently, he served as director of scientific research for the International Preventive Medicine Foundation. That work led to the establishment of a clinical laboratory and informal study of osteopathic medicine with physicians Dr. Brennan and Dr. Ellis. This work inspired him to study medicine in Juarez, Mexico, where he earned his M.D. in 1985 from Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez.
From 1985-2003 he worked as an independent scientific and nutritional consultant. In 2003, he retired to Lampasas County.
Dr. King enjoyed many creative endeavors: composing music for piano and performing for family and friends, writing and inventing; and spending time with his friends, children and grandchildren.
He married Alice Ann Arvin in 1966 in Houston at the Rice University Chapel. They had two children, Stephen Charles King III and Diana Dawn King, and divorced in 1977.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Stephen Charles King Sr., DDS, and Jane Robbin Scott King of Kempner, and lifelong friend Eleanor J. MacDonald.
Dr. King is survived by his first wife, Ann King of Somerset; son, Stephen C. King III and wife Bethel May of Kempner; daughter, Diana Dawn Deister, M.D., and husband Christopher Allen Deister, Ph.D., of Brookline, Massachusetts; brother, Sam King; grandchildren Aurora Jane Deister and Bryce Donald Deister; and Bob Kishk, Esther Daniels and others.
