Obituaries

MARY FRANCES NAFFZIGER Feb. 15, 1931 – Dec. 23, 2022

A resident of Los Alamos since 1958, Frances was a beloved teacher and fixture in the Los Alamos music community.

She was born in Salisbury, North Carolina Feb. 15, 1931, to Hannis Woodson Thompson and Lillian Boger Thompson. She admitted to being “a bit of a tomboy,” and chose to enroll in a physics class in high school rather than home economics, which the girls were supposed to take.

After high school she entered Greensboro College with a major in organ. When she graduated in 1953, she was already married to Richard “Dick” Naffziger, as he was shipped Read More

RAY ALBERT WALLER March 4, 1937 – Dec. 28, 2022

Ray Albert Waller, 85, Retired Professor and Researcher, died Wednesday, December 28, 2022. Visitation will be from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm, Thursday, January 5, 2023, at Downing & Lahey East Mortuary. Funeral Service will be at 10:00 am, Friday, January 6, 2023, at Eastminster Presbyterian Church.

Ray was born March 4, 1937 at home near Grenola, KS to Clarence and Dorothea Waller, who preceded him in death. He attended a one room schoolhouse in Cloverdale and graduated from Cedar Vale High School in 1955. He went on to graduate from Southwestern Read More

LEO WILLIAM BECKSTEAD Feb. 9, 1949 – Dec. 24, 2022

On December 24, 2022, Leo William Beckstead, beloved husband and father, passed away.  

Born on February 9, 1949, in Salt Lake City, Utah, Leo was the youngest of six children to Merrill “Jake” and Vera Beckstead. Leo was very athletic; he loved playing basketball and was a track star. He graduated from East High School in 1967 and went on to graduate with a Bachelor’s of Science in Metallurgy in 1971 and a PhD in Metallurgy in 1975, both from the University of Utah.

In 1972, Leo married Lorene Smith in the Oakland Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Read More

MICHAEL ALBERT TAYLOR March 5, 1953 – Dec. 2, 2022

Michael Albert Taylor, beloved husband, father, brother, son, uncle, and friend, passed away on Friday, December 2, 2022, at the age of 69.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and is survived by his wife, four children and his sisters, Marcella Hiebert (Steven) of Broomfield, Colorado; Mary Arrowsmith (John) of Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Theresa Taylor of Lakewood, Colorado.

Mike was born in Los Alamos, New Mexico on March 5, 1953, to Joseph William Taylor and Rosalie (Coffield) Taylor. Mike graduated from New Mexico State University in Read More

ROBERTA JOYCE GALLAGHER Jan. 13, 1947 – Dec. 7, 2022

Roberta has passed away in her home Dec. 7, 2022.

She is preceded in death by her father James Douglas Gallagher in 2015 and her mother Vera Joyce Gallagher in 2018.

Roberta was born in Los Alamos Jan. 13, 1947. She grew up in Los Alamos, was in the Girl Scouts and graduated Los Alamos High School. She attended Weber State College in Ogden, Utah and graduated with a degree in accounting.

In 1982 she visited her brother who introduced her to hot air ballooning. Two months later she moved back to New Mexico. Roberta had her own company ‘Pride of the Southwest’ Read More

HERALD WESLEY KRUSE March 25, 1928 – Nov. 29, 2022

Herald Wesley Kruse, a quiet man whose deeds spoke louder than his words, died at age 94- the end of a remarkable life.

He was a child of the Great Depression, born into the Midwest home of Edna and Reverend Melvin Kruse, a Methodist minister who christened him, “Herald,” calling out the hopeful beginning of an enduring private faith and life-long love of music and learning. 

Despite his humble beginnings and an ill-fated childhood experiment involving a family of snowy owls on a high branch that “let him have it” after he curiously circled the tree Read More

MICHAEL W. BURKETT Oct. 6, 1956 – Oct. 19, 2022

Michael W. Burkett, 66, died in Tucson, AZ Oct. 19, 2022. He was born in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma Oct. 6, 1956, to Seth and Martha Burkett.

As a child, Mike lived in many parts of the United States and even Germany while his father was an officer in the US Army. Mike loved sports – he was an avid golfer, bowler, and baseball player. And he loved the outdoors – hunting and fishing, in particular. Everything Mike did, he did with determination and perseverance. As a teenager in high school, his professional aspiration was to work for Los Alamos National Laboratory. Read More

TROY L. EDDLEMAN Dec. 26, 1929 – Dec. 5, 2022

Troy L. Eddleman, 92, passed away Monday, December 5, 2022 at the Kingston Memory Care unit in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Troy was born December 26, 1929 to (James) Walter and Zola (Holcomb) Eddleman, in Readstown, Wisconsin and was the fifth of seven children. Troy was raised in Readstown, WI, Broadus, MT, Hotchkiss, CO, and Claremore, OK. He graduated from Claremore High School in Claremore, Oklahoma after which he served as a Sergeant in the United States Army as a tank commander. Troy received a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Mesa College, in Grand Junction, Read More

HARRY J. ETTINGER July 20, 1934 – Dec. 12, 2022

Harry J. Ettinger: Husband, father, professional; born July 20, 1934, died Dec. 12, 2022 at the age of 88.

Harry was born in the Bronx to Morris and Pauline Ettinger, immigrants who came to America through Ellis Island. Harry graduated from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan and earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from City College of New York. He worked in the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Institutes of Health before moving to Los Alamos in 1961 with his wife June and his baby daughter Linda.

Harry worked Read More

TERENCE MITCHELL Oct. 22, 2022

Terence Mitchell passed away peacefully at his home in Santa Fe Oct. 22, 2022. Terry was born in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England in 1937, where he met his life partner Marion Mitchell née Wyatt when they were teenagers.

Terry went on to receive his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Cambridge. Terry, advised at Cambridge by Sir Peter Hirsch, was one of the pioneers of transmission electron microscopy. He continued as a postdoctoral fellow at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge before emigrating to the United States in 1963 and joining the faculty Read More