Herbert A. Laitinen was born January 17, 1915, of Finnish heritage. He was raised in Minnesota and educated at the University of Minnesota. He came to the University of Florida in 1974 as a lecturer and then stayed to do research and teach chemistry.

Herbert also taught at the University of Illinois, UCLA, and the University of Birmingham in England. He also worked as a chemist at Russell Miller Milling Co. in Minneapolis and the DuPont Co. in Cleveland. He passed away March 22, 1991.

Marjorie was born November 23, 1915 and passed away December 1, 2005. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in 1940. She and Herbert had three children, Kenneth, Richard and Roger Laitine