Tree falls, killing Entomology Alum

By Kevin O'Neal
Indy Star
Wednesday, May 3, 2006

A tree that fell precisely as a motorist drove by killed an agricultural research scientist early Tuesday morning on the Northwestside.

Sheldon D. West's death was the result of an unexplained series of events, which shocked his co-workers at Dow AgroSciences.

"It's a very, very sad story," said Robyn Heine, public affairs representative for the company. "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

West's death came not far from his home in the Traders Hollow subdivision, featuring widely spaced luxury houses in a quiet area of tree-covered hills. Police aren't sure what caused the tree to fall. West, 56, was a research scientist at Dow. He previously worked for Eli Lilly and Co., moving to Dow AgroSciences when it began as a merger of the agricultural chemical operations of the two companies. With 31 years of experience in the field, West had written technical papers on pesticides, herbicides and plant chemistry that had been published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry of the American Chemical Society.

Dow AgroSciences is based on Zionsville Road, a couple of miles from West's home on the Northwestside. The accident was reported to the Marion County Sheriff's Department around 6 a.m. Tuesday. West was driving a Chevrolet Astro van. The tree that hit his van was about 1 foot in diameter. The tree was about 10 feet back from the pavement, but it was long enough to reach the road and smash the van's windshield.

Deputies said West died of head injuries. Many residents near the accident scene said they weren't aware of what happened until deputies and Pike Township fire units began arriving.

At midday Tuesday, the only obvious evidence of the accident on the lightly traveled road was broken glass and clumps of splinters on the pavement. The remains of the tree already had been cut up and dragged onto the grass near a group of maple trees. The base of the tree appeared to have been partially hollowed from rot, and another part of the tree was riddled with holes that looked like insect damage.

The Northwestside area, along with the rest of Marion County, had been subject to a heavy thunderstorm around 3 a.m. Tuesday, three hours before the incident. West had driven two-tenths of a mile on Traders Hollow Lane from his home when the accident happened. The incident came about 40 minutes before sunrise, on a two-lane road with few streetlights. The housing addition has been around for about 15 years, north of 82nd Street and east of Lafayette Road.

Obituary: Sheldon West
Indy Star
Thursday, May 4, 2006

Sheldon Dale West 56, of Indianapolis, died suddenly, early in the morning of Tuesday, May 2, 2006. Shel was born on April 30, 1950 to Dick and Bee West in Anderson, Indiana. He graduated from Anderson High School in 1968 and then received his B.S. in Chemistry from Purdue in 1972.

He met and married Lynn Cousert on May 26, while working on his M.S. in Entomology at Purdue University in 1973. Shel began his career as a research scientist for Schering Research Center in Bloomfield, New Jersey. He was then offered a position with Eli Lilly and worked for them from 1974 to 1989. Sheldon finished his career at Dow Agroscience, which began as a joint venture with Lilly and Dow.

He was President of the Central Section of the Association of Analytical Chemists International from 2002 to 2003. Sheldon published numerous manuscripts and chapters in scientific journals and also wrote three murder mysteries with his wife. He finished two Christianscience fiction novels, "They Came for Earth" and "Dark Lake". Shel coached youth baseball, basketball, and softball for 21 years.

Shel is survived by his wife of 33 years, Lynn, his daughter, Cara, and sons Jared and Jordan. He is also survived by his mother, Bee West, sister, Diane, and brother, Randy, all of Anderson. Shel was a wonderful husband and "the best Dad ever". He loved watching Purdue Sports and NASCAR.