Gene Lemmers (July 7, 1907 - June 2, 1992), born Alfred Eugene Lemmers, was a native of Cleveland, Ohio and the only "hometown" member of the cooperative effort to develop the fluorescent lamp. He graduated from Glenville High School and attended Fenn College, the precursor of Cleveland State University.

In the early days of fluorescent lamp development Lemmers was involved in circuit and ballast design. He was also concerned with manufacturing techniques, as the requirements were vastly different from those of the incandescent lamp. Among his many accomplishments, Gene was a co-developer of the POWERGROOVE^R lamp (with John O. Aicher) and he also developed the RAPID START^R system of operation.

It is instructive to review one of the starting techniques of fluorescent lamps in order to appreciate the merits of the RAPID START development.

In the early days of development a lamp was started by applying a sufficient voltage. It was known that if the electrode were heated prior to the application of voltage the required starting voltage was lower. This led to the development of a bimetal starter switch which, after starting, would cut out of the circuit. In this case, after a turn-on switch was thrown, there was a time delay before the lamp would light. The RAPID START method used a starting strip the length of the lamp and the application of a small continuous voltage on the electrode. The net result of this new design of a lamp system was immediate lamp lighting and longer lamp life.

The starting speed of the Rapid Start lamps was demonstrated by Gene Lemmers in the picture shown above¹. The Rapid Start lamps are located at the top and the prestart lamps are at the bottom. The new lamps required newly designed ballasts. The cathode of the new lamp, also shown above, required less energy to preheat; in addition, a life increase was realized.

The POWERGROOVE^R lamp had a high lumen output and this was achieved by effectively making the lamp length longer by creating indentations in the lamp envelope.

List of U.S. Patents Granted to A. Eugene Lemmers

In 1981 Gene Lemmers was presented the Distinguished Service Award of the Cleveland Technical Society Council.

Gene Lemmers married Eloise Nuhn (20 Mar 1910 - 29 Jan 1993) in 1932 and had a daughter, Mary Jane, and two sons, Robert E. and Richard E. He was an avid member of a group known as the North-South Skirmish Association, an organization of Civil War history enthusiasts. Within that organization he belonged to a group called the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry - a living history group. Although he was not aware of it, Gene had several relations who had served in the Union Army of the Cumberland, 1861-1865.

Research performed by Richard, Gene's son, uncovered the fact that Gene's father's side of the family came from Belgium and that he was related to a famous artist, Georges F. Lemmers (1872 - 1944). Gene's mother's side of the family originated from Germany, France and Switzerland.

Gene had several outside interests, which included Boy Scouts, travel, camping and photography. He had his own "dark room" in his basement where he developed black and white film.

Interment was in the Whitehaven Cemetery, Mayfield Village, Ohio.