Born near Dresden, Germany, on December 17, 1940, Immo died in Victoria, British Columbia, on February 20, 2023. Immo’s father died on the battlefield in the Crimea in 1942; his mother brought him and his brother from East Germany to Ulm in West Germany in 1954 and subsequently to Winnipeg, Canada in 1957.
Immo finished high school at Daniel McIntyre in Winnipeg and obtained his B.Sc. (honors) and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Manitoba. After completing his Ph.D. at Stanford University in 1968 in physical biochemistry, he did post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School, Boston and L’Institut Pasteur, Paris. He joined the Department of Biology at the University of California San Diego in 1971.
Immo was a dedicated and passionate teacher who cared deeply about his students, receiving numerous teaching awards at UC San Diego. He served on the editorial boards of several biochemistry journals. In recognition of his research accomplishments, he was selected in 1984 for the Alexander von Humboldt Award for Senior U.S. Scientists. In 2008, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A highlight of his career was the publication of the authoritative book, “Mitochondria” (Wiley, 1999, 2007 2 nd ed.). He retired as Professor Emeritus in 2010, however he continued teaching until 2014, mentoring students until even more recently.
Family near and far, friendships old and new, travel, hiking, gardening, photography, music, art, food and wine were all important to Immo. He read avidly and took great interest in current affairs and politics around the world. In his retirement, Immo expressed his love and concern for the natural environment and sought to contribute to his southern California community by serving on the Board of the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy. He especially loved Hawaii Island where his son and family make their home.
In 2021 Immo and his wife Diana relocated to Canada, the country that had welcomed their families when both were teenagers, and of which they were both fond. The move brought them closer to family and the city of Victoria fulfilled their desire for an urban life
on a human scale.
Preceded in death by his brother Eike, Immo is sadly missed by Diana, their son
Timothy, daughter-in-law Pamela, and grandsons, Kalani and Kekai. There will be no
service. Donations in Immo’s honor may be made to the San Dieguito River Valley
Conservancy, https://sdrvc.org/ or the David Suzuki Foundation, https://davidsuzuki.org/
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
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S. M.
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Sharon Laurent A member of the graduating class of 1963 and attendee at the wedding I followed with interest Immo’s career. He definitely contributed to progress. My condolences to the family.
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Steven He I am deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Dr. Scheffler. He was my biochemistry professor during college, and one of my mentors who helped shape my medical career. I am deeply grateful for all of his teachings and all the time he spent with me during his office hours. Words cannot describe the way this news sank in my heart. I will forever treasure our memories together.
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Heather Pratt I knew Professor Scheffler in a professional capacity later in his career at UC San Diego. He was such a gentleman and reminded me of my grandfather from Scandinavia who loved gardening and hiking as well. I only recently learned of Professor Scheffler’s passing and I wanted to extend my heartfelt condolences to his family. I was married in Victoria so I have a close affinity to Canada. I will think of him on my next visit.
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Mai-Lon Gittelsohn My husband, Marc Gittelsohn, and I well remember Immo’s contributions to UCSD and to our Del Mar community. We appreciated his passion for the environment. Marc also died in the month of February, on Feb. 3, 2023. Perhaps they met in transit. I hope so.
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Brenda Theresa Canitz So lovely to have gotten to know Immo and his many accomplishments during his short time in Victoria. A many of many talents and interests, he will be remembered by many near and far. Hugs to all the family.
Dr. Scheffler taught a course for undergraduates in Cell Biology at UCSD. His lectures were held in a big auditorium. About 200 students attended. I was one of his students in the mid-1980s. To my surprise, he stopped me once in an outfield courtyard and asked if everything was ok with course material. I had no clue that he knew of my existence in that big class… That incident left me with a positive impression of him as a great person who delivered EXCELLENT lectures.
My condolences to his family.
S.M.