Sara Ketcham-Peck | Research scientist, 86

Sara J. "Sally" Mann Ketcham-Peck, 86, formerly of Chestnut Hill, a research scientist with the Navy for 39 years, died of heart failure March 3 at Normandy Farms Estates, a retirement community in Blue Bell.

Mrs. Ketcham-Peck retired in 1984 as head of the materials-protection branch of the Naval Air Development Center in Warminster. She supervised corrosion-prevention research at the center, including the development of a corrosion-control touch-up kit for aircraft.

She published more than 60 scientific papers and received an award of merit from the American Society for Testing and Materials. Though her degree from Bryn Mawr College was in geology, a friend, Carolyn Commons, said she considered herself an engineer.

Mrs. Ketcham-Peck grew up in Wichita, Kan., and in Philadelphia, and graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls. She was a member of the Annual Fund Committee of Bryn Mawr College. She enjoyed bridge and gardening and volunteered at the Morris Arboretum. She was a member of the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

In 1988, after the death of her first husband, Harry R. Ketcham, she moved to Normandy Farms Estates, where she met George S. Peck. They married in 1992. He survives her.

The funeral and burial were private.

Memorial donations may be made to the Deacons Fund, First Presbyterian Church, 4 S. Ridge Ave., Ambler, Pa. 19002.