Dr. Marlin Gottschalk, a career ecologist and environmentalist, was in need of a kidney when a stranger offered one of his.
Following a successful 2004 transplant operation at Piedmont Hospital, Dr. Gottschalk and the donor, John Due, talked on the phone, exchanged emails and occasionally dined at the LongHorn Steakhouse in Sandy Springs. Mr. Due said he had hoped Dr. Gottschalk, 60, would outlive him.
On Monday, Dr. Marlin Ralph Gottschalk of Atlanta died from complications of skin cancer at Piedmont Hospital. A memorial will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Emory University's Miller-Ward Alumni House. H.M. Patterson & Son, Oglethorpe Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.
"It's like losing a brother or a member of the family," said Mr. Due of Sandy Springs. "It's hard to describe. Sad."
Dr. Gottschalk was born in Milwaukee and moved with his family to St. Petersburg, Fla. He came to Atlanta to attend Emory University, where he earned three degrees: bachelor's and master's degrees in science, and a Ph.D in ecology.
In 1981, Dr. Gottschalk went to work for the state Environmental Protection Division and oversaw various projects and programs that involved land use, energy use, environmental policy and transportation planning, among other issues. He managed programs that reduced vehicle air pollution and cleaned up underground storage tanks. He was instrumental in the formation of the Clean-Air Campaign, a nonprofit that works to improve the state's air quality and reduce traffic congestion.
"He was one of the founding fathers," said Kevin Green, Clean-Air Campaign executive director. "He was always looking to spark creativity and innovation with those he came in contact with, and was a foremost expert on air quality in the state of Georgia."
In 2008, Dr. Gottschalk was chosen to lead the Department of Natural Resource's sustainability division, which works on resource conservation and waste-reduction programs.
"He had his fingers in so many pots at work and on a volunteer basis," said Kathy Gottschalk, his wife of 32 years. "He always had the big-picture approach yet he could address and focus on a single issue, too. He tried to prevent people from having tunnel vision, and, in ecology, that's what you do."
This year, GreenLaw, an Atlanta-based public interest legal group, honored Dr. Gottschalk with a new distinguished public service award, citing his "steadfast leadership in integrating environmental policy and planning with transportation, land use and energy policy," according to a news release.
Dr. Gottschalk met his organ donor days after the transplant operation, and couldn't have been more grateful.
"It's like coming face to face with your angel," Dr. Gottschalk once told The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. "You're looking at the guy who gave you one of his body parts. He's my hero."
Additional survivors include a daughter, Rachel Gottschalk of New York; a son, Russell Gottschalk of Atlanta, and a brother, Kenneth Gottschalk of St. Petersburg, Fla.
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