Chemist Edgar L. Piret, 77; Developed Army K-Rations

Edgar L. Piret, a chemist credited with the process used to make the Army’s K-Rations, has died at the age of 77.

Piret, who had been living in Lexington, Mass., died Sept. 24 at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass. His son, John Piret, said his father had died of a heart attack after being hospitalized for two weeks for treatment of a brain hemorrhage.

Piret received a chemical engineering degree from the University of Minnesota in 1932, a doctorate in biochemistry and bacteriology from the University of Lyon in France in 1936 and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1937.

He developed a process to make quick-dried, lightweight and portable food supplies--K-Rations--while at the University of Minnesota. Piret also is credited with development of the Scotchlite Bead, a 3M Co. product used in highway signs. Piret was a consultant for the 3M Co., based in Maplewood, Minn., from 1945 to 1965.