Druie Edward Cavender, III (Dru),70, passed away on February 4, 2025 due to the brain cancer glioblastoma. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana on November 5, 1954 to Druie E. Cavender, Jr. and Dorothy H. (Quinn) Cavender, joining his sister, Johanna Rae (Jody). The family moved to Findlay, Ohio in 1961 when Dru's father was transferred to the home office of Marathon Oil Company where he worked as an attorney.

Dru had a very happy childhood growing up with many close neighborhood friends in Findlay. They were typically outside—skateboarding, riding bikes, or playing sports. He would always make a special effort to be kind and friendly to children who were teased and made fun of. Dru particularly enjoyed basketball, water skiing, and bowling. Being mathematically inclined, he loved being the secretary of his bowling league at Timber Lanes for many years, calculating averages and handicaps. During his childhood, Dru also enjoyed his family's boat and the many shared vacations with his relatives at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. During his college years at Miami University, Dru was introduced to running for exercise by a childhood friend, and he continued that routine until his late 60's. In 1994, at the age of 40, he completed the Philadelphia Marathon in just over 3 ½ hours, and he completed the Charleston Half Marathon in 2019 at the age of 65.

Dru met his wife, Elaine A. (Pratt) Cavender in chemistry(!) class in their junior year at Findlay High School. Fortunately, they both attended Miami University, graduating together in 1976. Dru graduated magna cum laude with honors in microbiology, while Elaine obtained her bachelor's degree in elementary education. They were married during the summer of their graduation, then moved to Dallas, Texas where Dru studied immunology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dru obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1980, having worked for several years in the lab of Dr. Jack Kettman. The couple then moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan where they both became students again; Elaine obtained her master's degree in reading education from Eastern Michigan University, while Dru received a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree in epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor. During Dru's subsequent 3 years of post-doctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, where he worked on the immunology and epidemiology of type-1 diabetes, their first child, Matthew David, was born. Dru was recruited back to Southwestern Medical Center, where he worked with Dr. Morris Ziff, a world-renowned rheumatologist, on the role of endothelial cells in the inflammatory response. That work resulted in the rewarding of a 5-year National Institutes of Health research grant to Dru. Elaine and Dru's second son, Michael Edward, was born in Texas during that time. Dru then decided to leave Dallas, having been recruited to the University of Miami School of Medicine by Dr. J. Wayne Streilein, who had been the founder and chairman of Dru's graduate program in Dallas. After 3 enjoyable years in Miami, Dru decided to leave academia, and began a 20-year career in the pharmaceutical division of Johnson & Johnson in New Jersey. Dru and Elaine's third son, Adam Robert, was born in Flemington, New Jersey soon after their move. Dru was a co-author of over 60 peer-reviewed scientific papers. He was invited to give talks at several national and international meetings, including Viterbo, Italy and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Dru retired in 2010 from Johnson & Johnson, having reached the rank of Research Fellow and Team Leader of the Inflammation Research Team. He then briefly worked as Vice-President of the New Jersey Association for Biomedical Research.

In 2012, Elaine and Dru moved to Prosperity, South Carolina (near Columbia) to be closer to Matthew, his wife Stefanie, and their 2 daughters, Charlize Rose and Sadie Mae, as well as to fulfill Dru's dream of living on a lake (Lake Murray) in a warmer climate with his own boat. A third grandchild, Sebastian Edward, was born to Michael and his wife, Sara Williams, in 2023. In his "retirement," Dru taught at Newberry College for several years as an adjunct faculty member, and upon leaving, he and Elaine donated 30 new microscopes to replace the school's outdated ones. Dru volunteered at the Lowman Home in Irmo and at the Chapin We Care Center. Most recently, he delivered prescription drugs for Prosperity Drug Company. Throughout his life, he tried to help and care for those less fortunate than himself, as when he served as Guardian Ad Litem for a woman in New Jersey.

Dru was fond of travel, and thrilled that he and Elaine were able to take a trip to Antarctica in January 2024.

Dru was a member of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Chapin, South Carolina.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Jody, and his son Adam.

He is survived by Elaine (his wife of 48 years), his sons Matthew and Michael and their wives Stef and Sara, and his grandchildren Charlize, Sadie, and Sebastian.

Dru loved and treasured his family and friends, and will be missed by them immeasurably.

If so inclined, Dru has requested that people donate to one of his 2 favorite charities: 1) Chapin We Care Center, P.O. Box 491, Chapin, SC 29036 or 2) Compassion & Choices Gift Processing Center, P.O. Box 485, Etna, NH 03750.

Memories and messages may be left on his tribute wall.

Whitaker Funeral Home is honored to serve the Cavender family.