Dr. Raymond Peel Mariella Sr., co-founder of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, passed away March 17 reports the P.S.F.S. News.

Mariella and Milton Rothman formed the eleventh chapter of the Science Fiction League in 1934. The following year they combined with the stronger Boy’s SF Club, of which Robert A. Madle was a member, and adopted a new name — the Philadelphia SF Society.

Mariella enjoyed a distinguished career at Loyola University of Chicago where he chaired the Chemistry Department and later served as Dean of the Graduate Schools. He was a gifted teacher of the future doctors and nurses at his university, and also the general public as host of a program for school-age children called “Fun With Chemistry” on a local Chicago station, then as moderator of a regional weekly series for CBS called “Science Unlimited,” interviewing scientists and discussing the latest discoveries.