- Date Of Birth: April 24, 1936
- Date Of Death: June 22, 2022
- State: Indiana
Werner Soedel was born in 1936 to Hermann Soedel and Gertrud Fritsche Soedel who
were members of the Sudeten German ethnic group (German nationals who used to be part of
Austria before World War I), in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He had a younger brother, Günther
Soedel (wife Monika). Both are surviving.
In 1945, close to his 9th birthday, Werner and his brother got caught up in the upheaval at
the end of World War II and lost many of their family members. After several months in
Communist run prison camps, where he and his brother worked as agricultural child laborers in
the fields, and a yearlong interlude in the village of Gottesgabe in East Germany (Mecklenburg),
Werner found himself in 1946 with his brother, father and paternal grandmother Ernestine in the
village of Dattenhausen, Bavaria. During summer vacations, he and his brother were allowed to
work as cow herders in the meadows of the moor by the village. It was a blissful time.
In 1952, the decimated family moved to Frankfurt, West Germany. There, in 1957,
Werner graduated from the State Engineering College Frankfurt (now the Frankfurt University of
Applied Science) with the equivalent of a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical
Engineering.
After graduation, Werner found employment with Opel, part of the General Motors
Corporation, in Rüsselsheim, West Germany, as a Junior Project Engineer. In 1959, General
Motors sent him to represent Opel at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan
and to study Automotive Design at the General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) in
Flint, Michigan. Later, back in Germany he would work as a Senior Project Engineer in the
Advanced Design Group at Opel.
While in Flint, Werner considered himself very fortunate to meet in 1960 his future wife,
Ann S. Greiber, on a blind date. Ann was a graduate of Indiana University and worked as a
Physical Therapist at Hurley Hospital in Flint. It was love at first sight. When Werner had to
return to Germany in 1961, he invited Ann to travel with him to see if she would like it there.
She did and they were married in September 1961, twice. First by a magistrate, as is German
law, and the next day in the Catholic church St. Georg in Rüsselsheim. They celebrated the two
adjoining Wedding Anniversaries for the rest of their lives. To their joy, their first son Sven
Michael Soedel (wife Patricia) was born in July 1962.
In 1963, Werner and his family returned to the United State. Ann worked as a Physical
Therapist at Purdue University to support her husband through Graduate School. Werner
received his Master of Science of Mechanical Engineering (MSME) degree in 1965 and his
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in 1967. Their second son Fritz Peter Soedel (wife Julie)
was born in the same year. Their third son Dirk Tomas Soedel (wife Christine) was born in 1969.
Both were eagerly welcomed. In 1973 the birth of their daughter Marlena Franziska Soedel
Schaaf (husband Eric) was celebrated. All of Werner’s children and in-law-children are
surviving. Werner and Ann had thirteen grandchildren: Amber C. Soedel, Nicholas (Nick) M.
Soedel (wife Angela), Ashleigh (Ash) J. Soedel (husband Ty Chiaro), April F. Soedel, Jackson W. Schaaf, Broderic (Brody) K. Soedel, Thomas M. Soedel, Carter E. Schaaf, Kathleen M. Soedel, Ava M. Schaaf, Chase M. Soedel, Francesca (Cece) H. Schaaf and Harrison R.H. Schaaf. All are surviving.
His wife Ann, his children and grandchildren were Werner’s greatest joy.
Also surviving are his aunt Maria Fritsche Jones (husband Arthur) of Goltho, England
and her children and grandchildren, and his nephews by marriage Michael Eddy, Christopher
Eddy, Matthew Dawes and their children.
In 1967, Purdue University appointed Dr. Soedel Assistant Professor of Mechanical
Engineering. Before, he worked as a teaching and research assistant. In 1971 and 1975 he was
promoted to Associate and Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering, respectively. Later, in
2002, he was awarded the Herrick Professor of Engineering Chair. He also served as chairman of
the Mechanics Area Committee of the School of Mechanical Engineering from 1983 until his
retirement in 2008.
Dr. Soedel’s interests in teaching and research were in Mechanics, particularly the
vibrations of solids, liquids and gases. This included structural vibrations and acoustics. He also
did research on the mathematical modeling and computer simulation of machinery dynamics. He
was also very interested in the history of Mechanics.
Dr. Soedel was author or co-author of 234 publications in scientific journals and
conference proceedings. He published a book on the vibrations of shell and plate structures in
three editions; the last edition appeared in 2004 and had grown to more than 500 pages. In 2007
he published a book on sound and vibration of positive displacement compressors. In addition he
authored five short course texts and one encyclopedia article. He was the editor of twenty two
volumes of conference proceedings.
Dr. Soedel was active in continuing education. He organized and taught short courses in
the area of his expertise. He was a part time consultant to over fifty national and international
industrial companies. He was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Acoustical Society of America, the Society of Experimental Stress Analysis, the American
Academy of Mechanics, and the American Society of Engineering Education. He was also a
member of the honorary societies of Sigma Xi, Pi Tau Sigma and Tau Beta Pi. He received the
Purdue Mechanical Engineering Solberg Teaching Award twice, in 1972 and 1976. He also
received the Ruth and Joel Spira Award in 1978. In 1986, he was given the National Ralph
Coates Roe Award for Teaching and Research by the American Society of Engineering
Education. He was a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He was cited in
American Men of Science, the International Scholars Directory and other biographical works.
Dr. Soedel served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Sound and Vibration, published
in England, and was the American Editor of this journal from 1989 until 2008, the year of his
retirement from Purdue University.
Werner Soedel spent the years of his retirement reading all the books he never had time to
read when he was professionally active. He visited his children and grandchildren, and
corresponded with them monthly. To the letters, he attached cartoon drawings about his early
life.
To his very great regret, Werner’s wife Ann S. Greiber Soedel passed away in February
2018.
