June 3, 2004--Charles J. "Charlie" Albisetti , 81, died May 14, after a long battle with emphysema and lung cancer.

He was affiliated with the College of Marine Studies. In the 1970s and '80s, he worked with Delaware Sea Grant scientists Paul Austin and John Castle, and discovered how to dissolve a compound called chitin found in blue crab shells — the waste left in seafood processing — and formulate it into a variety of products.

Born in Union City, N.J., Dr. Albisetti was one of only five members of his class at Union Hill High School to go on to college. He majored in chemistry at Rutgers University, where he was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He pursued graduate work in organic chemistry at Northwestern University, where he met and married Avis Betty Colbert.

After receiving his Ph.D. in 1947, he turned down offers of academic positions to take a job with E.I. du Pont de Nemours in Wilmington. He began his 37-year career with DuPont at the Experimental Station, where he participated in research that led to six patents. His research at Northwestern and DuPont led to several publications in the Journal of the American Chemical Society between 1946 and 1959, some of which continue to be cited by other scholars.

He gradually moved out of the laboratory and into the business side of DuPont as the head of technical sales for the film Tedlar(r), which he had helped to develop. This position led, in 1962, to a transfer to Buffalo, N.Y., where the manufacturing of Tedlar(r) was located.

He and his family returned to Wilmington in 1969. After the death of his wife, Avis, in 1978, he married D’sir’e Bessouda Noble in 1983. Since his retirement in 1984, they made their home in Rehoboth Beach.

He is survived by his wife; his son, Dr. James C. Albisetti, of Lexington, Ky.; his son-in-law, Dr. Jan E. Mabie of Milledgeville, Ga.; a grandson and great-granddaughter.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 163, Salisbury, MD 21803-0163.