Harold “Harry" Ben Dykstra (1902-1986) was an organic chemist born in Illinois. He graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan and received his Doctorate in chemistry from Ohio State University. He began working at the DuPont Experimental Station in 1927 and remained at the company for his entire career, retiring as assistant supervisor of the patent division in 1964. He married Anna Julia Newavelc (1898-1994) in 1928 and they had two daughters. Dykstra was a member of the DuPont Country Club and the American Chemical Society, and he loved to golf and garden.

Martin Eli Cupery (1901-1996) was also an organic chemist who was educated at Hope College and worked at DuPont. Born in Friesland, Wisconsin, he received his Masters in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his Doctorate from the University of Illinois in 1930. He moved to Wilmington in 1932 to work with Wallace Carothers as a research chemist at the Experimental Station. He was a lifelong member of the Fort Delaware Society, elected president in 1970, and was instrumental in forming the Fort’s library and archives. He married Susanna Harriet Ouweneel (1904–1982) in 1930 and the couple had two sons.