Lionel Dahmer Explained

Lionel Dahmer
Birth Name:Lionel Herbert Dahmer
Birth Date:29 July 1936
Birth Place:West Allis, Wisconsin, U.S.
Death Place:Medina, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation:Chemist researcher
Author
Known For:Being the father of Jeffrey Dahmer
Notable Works:A Father's Story
Embed:yes
Field:Analytical chemistry
Thesis Title:Chromatographic separations of niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, and tungsten
Thesis Url:https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/entities/publication/52969696-63c5-4c0d-a938-adbd08512fbc
Thesis Year:1966
Doctoral Advisor:James S. Fritz
Spouse:
    Children:2, including Jeffrey

    Lionel Herbert Dahmer (; July 29, 1936 – December 5, 2023) was an American chemist and author known as the father of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. In 1994, he wrote A Father's Story, a non-fictional account on his son's upbringing, subsequent progress to become a world-wide-known serial killer and its aftermath.[1] Lionel's figure has been controversial in the subsequent years since his son's crimes, as both he and his first wife were accused of neglecting Jeffrey during his childhood.[2]

    Early life and education

    Lionel Herbert Dahmer was born in West Allis, Wisconsin, on July 29, 1936, to Herbert Walter Dahmer, a high-school math teacher and barber, whom Dahmer described as "a good father, as caring and concerned as any child would wish," and Catherine Jemima Hughes, an elementary school history teacher.[3] Dahmer was of German ancestry by father and Welsh ancestry by mother.

    Dahmer received his primary education and secondary education at local Wisconsin schools and enjoyed a relatively good childhood.

    First marriage and career

    Dahmer enrolled in the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1954 and obtained his BS in chemistry in 1959. Dahmer married later that year, on August 22, to a 23-year-old teletype instructor named Joyce Annette Flint (1936–2000). In A Father's Story, Dahmer related that, from the very beginning, their marriage struggled due to Joyce's poor mental health and irascible and tempestuous behavior and his own inability to fully keep up with it. Shortly after Joyce got pregnant, she began to suffer seizure episodes, apparently from their neighbor's kitchen's foul odors, which caused them to move out to Dahmer's parents' home, shortly before their firstborn's delivery in early 1960, to receive attention from his parents. During the latter months of the pregnancy, Joyce suffered from increased mental breakdowns and seizures, which, according to her doctor "were rooted in Joyce's mental, rather than physical state" and which aggravated her already severe prescription barbiturates and morphine addiction, to the point of taking as "many as twenty-six pills a day" and being constantly sedated to ease her pain. Decades after, he reflected about the long-lasting and eventual terminal effect in his marriage:

    During the early years of Jeffrey's life, Dahmer's academic responsibilities and, later on, long work shifts prevented him from spending enough time with his wife and children. Shortly after Jeffrey's birth, Dahmer received a Master of Science degree from Marquette University in 1962. Later, he enrolled at Iowa State University, where he earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in October 1966. He described himself as average, even considered himself a mediocre student:

    After divorcing Joyce in 1978, Dahmer married Shari Jordan, and moved to Granger, Ohio. In between his time at Marquette and Iowa Universities, Dahmer worked for PPG Industries.

    Personal life and death

    In 2020, Dahmer appeared in Jeffrey Dahmer: Mind of a Monster.[4] In 2022, Dahmer considered suing Netflix over the series .[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

    Dahmer lived in Seville, Ohio, in his later years.[3] His second wife, Shari, died in January 2023, and he died from a heart attack eleven months later, at a hospice in Medina, Ohio, on December 5, at the age of 87.[3] [10] [11]

    Cited works

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: The Story Of Jeffrey Dahmer's Father, The Man Who Had No Idea He Was Raising A Monster. Kaleena. Fraga. April 19, 2023. All That's Interesting.
    2. News: Breitowich . Andi . Did Jeffrey Dahmer's Childhood Turn Him Into A Serial Killer? Psychologists Unpack His Traumas It Was a Perfect Storm . 27 March 2024 . Women's Health Magazine . 7 October 2022.
    3. News: Lionel Dahmer, Who Agonized About Raising a Serial Killer, Dies at 87. Traub. Alex. December 12, 2023. December 12, 2023. The New York Times. limited.
    4. Web site: Kaplan. Anna. October 6, 2022 . Where is Lionel Dahmer, Jeffrey Dahmer's father, now? . September 19, 2023 . TODAY.com . en.
    5. Web site: October 24, 2022 . Miller. Korin. Spanfeller. Jamie. Jeffrey Dahmer's Dad Is Reportedly Not Pleased With The Netflix Show . September 19, 2023 . Women's Health . en-US.
    6. Web site: Prance. Sam. Jeffrey Dahmer's dad is considering suing Netflix for "glamorising" his son's murders . September 19, 2023 . October 24, 2022. PopBuzz . en.
    7. Web site: Dick . Jeremy . October 22, 2022 . Lionel Dahmer Considers Suing Netflix for Dahmer Series Portrayal . September 19, 2023 . MovieWeb . en.
    8. Web site: Lennon . Mads . October 25, 2022 . Jeffrey Dahmer's father Lionel is reportedly considering suing Netflix (here's why) . September 19, 2023 . Netflix Life . en-US.
    9. Web site: Robinson. Breanna. October 21, 2022. Jeffrey Dahmer's dad is thinking about suing Netflix for glamorising his son's grisly murders indy100 . September 19, 2023 . www.indy100.com . en.
    10. News: Price . Mark J. . Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's father, Lionel, dies at 87 . December 7, 2023 . . December 5, 2023.
    11. News: Lionel Dahmer obituary . 14 December 2023 . The Times . 14 December 2023. limited.