Obituaries

Obituary: Robert Lee Nance March 10, 1928 – Oct. 17, 2018

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ROBERT LEE NANCE March 10, 1928 – Oct. 17, 2018
 
Bob Nance (March 10, 1928 – October 17, 2018) “was a great man with a kind soul who could out hike anyone half his age and was a wonderful story teller,” wrote a great nephew at the time his peaceful passing. Robert/ Bob was a true gentleman and highly generous with his love, time and resources.
 
Robert’s loving parents and brother, Arnold (6 years younger), lived on “Moonshine Hill,” Inspiration, Arizona. Their home looked down on the huge copper mine and smelter where his dad worked. His father, Francis Nance, lost his job during the depression
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Obituary: Andrew Jarrard Drake July 3, 1959 – Oct. 15, 2018

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ANDREW JARRARD DRAKE July 3, 1959 – Oct. 15, 2018

Andrew Jarrard Drake (Drew), who was disabled during the last 5 years of his life, died following a fatal fall in his Albuquerque apartment. He was 59.

He was born in Marengo, Iowa at 11:50pm on July 3, 1959. The 10 minutes short of the 4th of July didn’t prevent him from being a firecracker. He was the son of Joy Jarrard Drake and Duane Holmes of Drake, MD. He is survived by his mother, his sister Jill Rice and husband Scot Rice, stepfather Alfred Zeltmann, stepsisters Ann Zeltmann, Carol Hengstenberg and husband Bob, Stepbrother Tom Zeltmann and wife Read More

Letter To The Editor: Skate Park Youth Are Awesome!

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By MONICA WITT
Los Alamos

My 10-year-old son had a decent size fall at the skate park after school on Wednesday afternoon. He fell and smashed his face into the concrete and two young men (high school, maybe?) called 911, used their own sweatshirts to stop the bleeding, and then got a hold of my husband at work to tell him to come over to the skate park.

I want the community to know what awesome kids these are, I want their parents to know what a great job they did dealing with a stressful situation, and I want them to know how much I appreciate their willingness and quick response to the accident.

My son got Read More

Obituary: Katherine Hitson April 30, 1988–Oct. 12, 2018

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KATHERINE (WEISBROD) HITSON
April 30, 1988 – Oct. 12, 2018
 
Katherine (Weisbrod) Hitson, 30, passed from this life Oct. 12, 2018. She died in Santa Fe, NM after battling cancer for nearly three years.
 
Katie was born in Dallas, Texas April 30, 1988 and moved with her parents to Los Alamos, NM, in 1992. She graduated from Los Alamos High School in 2006.
 
From childhood into adulthood, Katie was involved in ballet, gymnastics, Girl Scouts, high school band, Santa Fe Youth Symphony and Los Alamos Community Winds as well as band at NMSU.
 
Katie loved children and they loved her.
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Obituary: Bruce Gavett Sept. 3, 1927 – Oct. 10, 2018

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BRUCE GAVETT Sept. 3, 1927 – Oct. 10, 2018

Bruce Gavett, born September 3, 1927, died peacefully surrounded by loved ones on October 10th, 2018.

To say that Bruce lived life “full up” would be an understatement. He was born in New York City and joined the USMC before he was 18 with his parents’ permission.  He served honorably until discharged in 1945. After the war he went to work in mines and oilfields all over the west from Texas to Idaho to Washington. His stories from the mines and oilfields were endless and always very entertaining.

Bruce moved to Vermont and was for many years the General Read More

Obituary: Arnold John Sierk Nov. 10, 1946 – Oct. 11, 2018

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ARNOLD JOHN SIERK Nov. 10, 1946 – Oct. 11, 2018

Arnold John Sierk passed away Friday, October 12th at the age of 71 from complications of treatment for lymphoma.

Arnie was born November 10, 1946 in Batavia, NY, the third child of Dorothy Wild and Norman Lindsey Sierk. He grew up on a dairy farm in Darien Center, which gave him a foundation of a strong work ethic and self-discipline that he carried throughout his life.

He went to college at Cornell University, graduating in 1968, and then received a PhD in Physics from California Institute of Technology in 1972. It was at Cornell in freshman English class Read More

Obituary: Mark Brimhall Wells Oct. 7, 2018

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MARK BRIMHALL WELLS Oct. 7, 2018

 

Mark Brimhall Wells, long-time resident of Los Alamos, passed away October 7, 2018.

 

He spent his career as a mathematician and computer scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (1951-1980; appointed Group Leader of Computer Science Research in 1968), and as Department Head of the Computer Science Department at New Mexico State University (1980-1989).

 

Mark’s passions included skiing, gardening, hiking, camping, chess, basketball, tennis, sailing, and the outdoors.

 

He was instrumental in the development of the Los Alamos Read More

Obituary: Paul Eugene Harper Nov. 6, 1923 – Oct. 1, 2018

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PAUL EUGENE HARPER Nov. 6, 1923 – Oct. 1, 2018

Paul was born November 6, 1923, in Garvin, OK to Wheeler and Bertha Harper as the seventh of ten children. He passed away peacefully on October 1, 2018 at the age of 94 in Albuquerque, NM. 

Paul grew up during the Great Depression, spending most of his time working on the family farm and helping to take care of his three younger siblings. Despite those responsibilities, he managed to excel in all of his school-related activities. In high school, he graduated at the top of his class and was a multiyear all-state basketball player.

Paul was drafted soon Read More

Obituary: James Coulter Sept. 28. 2018

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JAMES COULTER Sept. 28, 2018
 
James Coulter, passed on to his Heavenly home Sept. 28, 2018 at the age of 101.
 
Born the son of George and Mabel Coulter, he grew up the middle of seven children on a farm in southern Illinois during the Great Depression.
 
He had a happy childhood in a close-knit family, but following his graduation from High School James moved to Morton, IL to find work. He first worked in a canning factory and was invited to live with an Amish family (“New Amish”), the Aupperles, in exchange for doing chores on their farm; for the rest of his life he thought of them as a second
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