New York Times Obituary
Helen Murray Free, a chemist who ushered in a revolution in diagnostic testing when she co-developed the dip-and-read diabetes test, a paper strip that detected glucose in urine, died on Saturday at a hospice facility in Elkhart, Ind. She was 98. The cause was complications of a stroke, her son Eric said. Before the invention of the dip-and-read test in 1956, technicians added chemicals to urine and then heated the mixture over a Bunsen burner. The test was inconvenient, and, because it could not distinguish glucose from other sugars, results were not very precise. Working with her husband, who was also a chemist, Ms. Free figured out how to impregnate strips of filter paper with chemicals that turned blue when glucose was present. The test made it easier for clinicians to diagnose diabetes and cleared the way for home test kits, which enabled patients to monitor glucose on their own. People with diabetes now use blood sugar meters to monitor their glucose levels, but the dip-and-read tests are ubiquitous in clinical laboratories worldwide. Helen Murray was born on Feb. 20, 1923, in Pittsburgh to James and Daisy (Piper) Murray. Her father was a coal company salesman; her mother died of influenza when Helen was 6. She entered the College of Wooster in Ohio in 1941, intent on becoming an English or Latin teacher. But she changed her major to chemistry on the advice of her housemother; World War II was creating new opportunities for women in a field that had been a male preserve. “I think that was the most terrific thing that ever happened, because I certainly wouldn’t have done the things I have done in my lifetime,” Ms. Free recalled in a commemorative booklet produced by the American Chemical Society in 2010. She received her bachelor’s degree in 1944 and went to work for Miles Laboratories in Elkhart, first in quality control and then in the biochemistry division, which worked on diagnostic tests and was led by her future husband, Alfred Free. They married in 1947. He provided the ideas; she was the technician “who had the advantage of picking his brain 24 hours a day,” Ms. Free recalled in an interview for this obituary in 2011. They soon set their sights on developing a more convenient glucose test “so no one would have to wash out test tubes and mess around with droppers,” she said. When her husband suggested chemically treated paper strips, “it was like a light bulb went off,” she said. They faced two challenges. First, they needed to refine the test so that it would detect only glucose, the form of sugar that is found in the urine of people with diabetes. Second, the chemicals they needed to use were inherently unstable, so they had to find a way to keep them from reacting to light, temperature and air. The first problem was easily solved with the use of a recently developed enzyme that reacted only to glucose. To stabilize the chemicals, the Frees experimented with rubber cement, potato starch, varnish, plaster of Paris and egg albumin before settling on gelatin, which appeared to work best. With her husband, Ms. Free wrote two books on urinalysis. Later in her career she returned to school, earning a master’s in clinical laboratory management from Central Michigan University in 1978 at age 55. She held several patents and published more than 200 scientific papers. At Miles, she rose to director of clinical laboratory reagents and later to director of marketing services in the research division before retiring in 1982; by then the company had been acquired by Bayer. She was elected president of the American Chemical Society in 1993. In 2009, she was awarded a National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Barack Obama, and in 2011 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y., for her role in developing the dip-and-read test. Alfred Free died in 2000. In addition to her son Eric, Ms. Free is survived by two other sons, Kurt and Jake; three daughters, Bonnie Grisz, Nina Lovejoy and Penny Moloney; a stepson, Charles; two stepdaughters, Barbara Free and Jane Linderman; 17 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Miles Laboratories followed the introduction of the dip-and-read glucose test with a host of other tests designed to detect proteins, blood and other indicators of metabolic, kidney and liver disorders. “They sure went hog wild on diagnostics, and that’s all Al’s fault,” Ms. Free said in the commemorative booklet. “He was the one who pushed diagnostics.” It wasn’t all smooth sailing. Several years after the introduction of the dip-and-read test, Miles moved Ms. Free to another division, citing an anti-nepotism policy. But two years later, after a change in management, she was transferred back to her husband’s division. “They realized that breaking up a team like this was interfering with productivity in the lab,” Ms. Free said. Alex Traub contributed reporting. Correction: May 4, 2021 An earlier version of this obituary, using information from Ms. Free’s family, misspelled the surname of one of her daughters. She is Penny Moloney, not Maloney. A version of this article appears in print on May 4, 2021, Section A, Page 20 of the New York edition with the headline: Helen Murray Free, 98, Chemist Who Developed a More Efficient Diabetes Test.
Obituary
Helen Free, 98, died today, May 1, 2021 at Greenleaf Health Care in Elkhart, IN. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Alfred H. Free who passed away in 2000. She is survived by six children – Eric Free (Sheryl McClure), Penny Free Maloney (Mike), Kurt Free (Donna), James “Jake” Free (Jenny), Bonnie Free Grisz (Jim Chadwick), and Nina Lovejoy (Dave); three step-children: Charles “Mike” Free (Thora), Jane Free Linderman (Richard), and Barbara Free; and seventeen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Helen was born February 20th, 1923, in Pittsburgh, PA, to James S. Murray and Daisy Piper Murray (Piper died of an influenza epidemic when Helen was six). Helen’s early education came from the public school system of Youngstown, OH. She graduated as valedictorian of Poland Seminary High School in 1941. As a youth, she attended a summer camp at the College of Wooster, and following that experience, her heart was set on attending Wooster. She enrolled initially majoring in English and Latin, in hopes of becoming a teacher. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, many young college men enlisted or were drafted into the military, depleting many students. Helen was approached by her house mother who wondered if she would be interested in changing her major to science. Helen agreed and switched to chemistry. She graduated in 1945, and said “her switch to chemistry was the most terrific thing to ever happen to her.” After graduating in 1945, she moved to Elkhart, IN, and took a job as a quality control chemist at Miles Laboratories (creators of Alka-Seltzer, Bactine, and One-a-Day vitamins). However, she aspired to be researcher as opposed to working in quality control. When Dr. Alfred Free had a position open up in his newly-formed biochemistry research group, she interviewed and got the position. In 1947, they married. Al and Helen worked together for over 35 years. Initially, they researched different antibiotics before they moved on to dry reagent systems. Later, Free worked with her husband to move the tests from tablets to test strips. In 1956, they introduced Clinistix, the first dip-and-read tests, followed by Uristix, Ketostix, Dextrostix, Labstix, and a still-current product, Multistix. These tests were the first to allow diabetics to easily and accurately monitor their blood glucose levels on their own. In 1969, Helen moved into the Growth and Development Department and eventually became the director of the Specialty Test Systems in 1976. She was Director of Marketing Services for the Research Products Division when Bayer Diagnostics acquired Miles in 1978. She also earned an MA in Management Health Care Administration from Central Michigan University (1978) and was an adjunct professor of management at Indiana University at South Bend. By 1975, Helen had earned seven patents for her improvements in medical and clinical urinalysis testing. Also in ’75, she and her husband co-authored their second book, Urinalysis in Laboratory Practice, which is still a standard work in the field. She retired in 1982, but worked as a consultant to Bayer Diagnostics until 1995. Following her retirement, she became an active promoter of science education. She devoted special attention to educating both female and underprivileged students through such programs as “Kids and Chemistry” and “Expanding Your Horizons.” She personally gave hundreds of children tours through the remaining Miles/Bayer facilities. In 1993, Helen was elected as president of the 155,000-member American Chemical Society (ASC), where her top priority was raising the public’s awareness and positive role chemistry has played in people’s lives. The ACS named an award in her honor, the Helen M. Free Award in Public Outreach. Among the awards she’s received are the ASC Garvan Medal (1980), The ACS’s 66th National Historic Chemical Landmark (2010), and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2010), presented to her by President Barak Obama at the White House. She was a former member of the Ethos board of directors and was given the title Ethos Board Member Emeritus. In 2000 both Helen and Al (posthumously) were inducted to the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame. In 2011, Helen was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Visitation will be Tuesday, May 11th, at the Hartzler-Gutermuth-Inman Funeral Home, 403 W. Franklin, Elkhart, from 2:00-8:00 PM. Due to current Covid restrictions, a memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Ethos, the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame, or the American Chemical Society. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Helen M. (Murray) Free, please visit our floral store.
