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- Black Mountain News, 28 Apr 2010
David Robinson Bassett
On April 25, 2010, David Robinson Bassett, of Swannanoa, passed away after a courageous 19 month battle with GBM brain cancer.
Dave was born in Winston-Salem, to Reverend Ralph Bassett, a Moravian minister, and his teacher wife, Ollie. Dave always remained a blond, boyish looking person with a sunny disposition and a lovely smile. He loved God and his neighbor, always with a twinkle in his eye and a wonderful sense of humor. He had a mischievous sense of adventure about him, and was always ready for a new challenge.
Dave's family, including himself, his parents, and older sister, Jane, moved around quite a bit because of his father's minstry. At 14, Dave's parents allowed him to study for a year in Lebanon at an international school, and this seeded his love of travel. He graduated from high school in Allentown, Pa., and then went on to Lafayette College. He had a lifelong passion for learning, and a great love for science. His graduate work in Colloid and Surface Chemistry at Lehigh met with early success.
Dave's career and early family life began in Charleston, W. Va., where he lived with his wife, Deborah, and his daughters, Jessica, Christina, and Kathryn, and worked at Union Carbide as a chemist. He was a loving, loyal father who taught his daughters good values and independence. In spite of his challenging career he always made time for them.
Colleagues remember Dave as a brilliant scientist with a passion for technology that was contagious; a man who rose to the very top of his profession and had fun doing it. Dr. David Bassett was one of the great minds in emulsion/dispersion technology in the twentieth century. Dave was noted both nationally and internationally, and worked literally around the globe, from Singapore to the Czech Republic.
He held over 35 patents, including his favorite, a de-icing aircraft patent that makes winter flying significantly safer, and another on Power Feed technology that scientists still refer to. His scientific contributions were extraordinary and included numerous papers, presentations, book chapters, and patents, but his ability to recruit and inspire outstanding young scientists was his greatest attribute. Colleagues also remember that no one was better at explaining to top management what Research and Development did: How it was important to learn from mistakes as well as from successes!
Dave supported the people who worked with him almost to a fault. It caused him great pain to sell any of his company stock, to let people go, or to see the demise of his beloved Union Carbide. He preferred to make people laugh and feel good about themselves. At times his trust would betray him, like the time when he left his keys in his car and was required to go find the car when somebody drove it off! He trusted everyone.
Dave had a great passion for fun - tennis, bikng, photography, or playing practical jokes. His smile and laughter were enough to let people know that something was afoot, and they should be on their toes for whatever it would be.
In 1998, Dave married his wife and soul mate, Sylvia Underwood. The couple have two daughters: Gennie, born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1999, and Sara, born in Cary in 2000. The family moved to Swannanoa in 2001, where Dave spent many happy hours improving and restoring the property.
Dave and Sylvia loved to travel, and loved getting to know about every country which they visited. Dave's knowledge of art was extensive, and his library was a testimonial to his various interests. Dave loved music all of his life, beginning in childhood, when he played in a trio with his father and sister. More recently he and Sylvia were well-known for playing flute and oboe together at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church. Dave loved the music of the mountains, always wanting to learn more songs and to hear more kinds of music. He loved Merlefest and LEAF and the richness of our local musical culture.
All of his life, Dave cared about people and worked effectively to make things better for them. The old saying "Ask a busy person to do something and it will get done" applied to him. Ever snce his days as a young parent in West Virginia he devoted himself to his community, working with his church and school communities, inspiring young people to bring out their individual talents. He continued this at The Learning Community School, where his daughters, Gennie and Sara, currently attend fifth and third grade.
In addition to being an enthusiastic science fair mentor, Dave would often fix broken things, always ready to crack a joke with the staff as he did so. He was also on the property committee at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, on the board of the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, and involved in securing more affordable housing for the Town of Black Mountain.
Dave had a quiet intensity and devotion to family and a deep love for them. He loved to spend hours supporting and encouraging his daughters, including playing with them and their toys, playing "tollbooth" and "horsie", taking them to the playground, or just teasing and tickling them.
Dave leaves behind his best friend and true love,, Sylvia Bassett, wife of 12 years; and their daughters, Gennie and Sara. He also leaves his first three loving and cherished daughters, Jessica Bassett, of Baltimore, Md.; Christina Ekerson, of Dundee, Ore.; and Kathryn Bassett, of Alameda Island, Calif.; and grandchildren, Christian, Nicholas, and Calista Dudek, Owen Schmidt, and Wesley Butterfield. Also, loving sister, Jane Differding, of Mountain View, Calif.
Dave also leaves behind hundreds of friends in the Black Mountain/Swannanoa area who have been touched by his kindness and treasured his friendship, including the congregation of the Black Mountain Presbyterian Church.
Dave Bassett was a rare person who had a brilliant mind and a warm heart, and all who knew him feel very honored to have been allowed to share in a small part of his amazing life. He will be remembered as a renaissance man, a brilliant scientist, a supporter and enabler of people, a master builder of basements and stone walls, and a man with a big smile between chipmunk cheeks. He will always be a part of us. Our bond cannot be broken.
Burial will take place at Mountain View Memorial Park in Black Mountain. A memorial service at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church will take place on Friday at 2 p.m.
In honor of Dave's passion for giving people better choices rather than handouts, the family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity.
We would like to express our warm gratitude to the Center for End of Life Transitions, and to George Plym, of the WNC Brain Tumor Support Group. We are humbled by all the support we have received from this wonderful community.
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Bassett Family Association Database
d. 25 Apr 2010