Glendon William Gee

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Brigham Young University Idaho North Dakota State University University of New Hampshire Washington State University

Glendon Gee Obituary

Born in Rexburg, ID on June 3, 1938
Departed on January 31, 2013
Glendon William Gee, 74, beloved husband, brother, father, and grandfather, passed from his mortal existence on January 31, 2013. His family and friends have had the great blessing of gathering often at their present home in Kaysville, UT during his final years upon the earth.
He was born in Rexburg, ID to Ivin Lafayette Gee and Pearl Stucki Gee. He attended school in Denver, CO, and then moved to Lander, WY for his remaining elementary and high school years.
While attending Rick's College, Glendon met his eternal companion, Shirley Hillman. They were married in the Logan, UT temple on October 3, 1958 following his mission for the LDS Church to the West Central States under President Casper W. Merrill.
Following their marriage, Glendon continued his education at Ricks College, USU, and Washington State University, and began a distinguished career in Hydrology and Soil Physics. He taught at Washington State University, University of New Hampshire and North Dakota State University and worked as a Research Scientist at Battelle NW Laboratories in Richland, WA, where his family resided for 35 years.
Glendon and Shirley had lived in Rexburg, ID; Logan, UT; Pullman, WA; Somersworth, NH; Lander, WY; Bismarck, ND before moving to Richland in 1977, and then moved in 2008 to Kaysville, UT to be closer to their family pioneer home in Paris, ID prior to their LDS mission to the Visitor's Centre in Hamilton, New Zealand in 2009.
Glendon's greatest pleasure came in serving his family, friends, and community. He loved the Savior, and he constantly demonstrated this through endless service in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He loved being a missionary! He magnified callings and served faithfully in many ways. He dedicated decades to Scouting and in 1990 received the Silver Beaver Award. He was honored as a Fellow by the Soil Science Society of America and has received international recognition for his work. He received the Ricks College Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992.
Glendon is survived by his wife, Shirley, and their sons David (Megan), Steven (Pamela), and James (Cherie) and daughters Carma (Patrick) Sorensen and Laurene (Val) Starkey. Glendon and Shirley have been blessed with 15 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Glendon's two brothers, Laurence (Alice) Gee and Martell (LaRue) Gee, and his sister, Rosemary (Stephen) Wall, live nearby.
Glendon was preceded in death by his parents.
Funeral services will be held Monday, February 4, 2013 at 10 a.m. in the Kaysville 5th Ward Chapel, 201 South 600 East, Kaysville, UT. The family will receive friends at the chapel Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Monday from 9 to 9:45 a.m. Interment, Paris, ID Cemetery, Saturday, February 9, 2013 at 1 p.m.
Services entrusted to Lindquist's Layton Mortuary, 1867 N. Fairfield Road. Condolences and memories may be shared at:
www.lindquistmortuary.com

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Deseret News on Feb. 2, 2013.

Memories and Condolences
for Glendon Gee

11 Entries

Jim Becker

February 21, 2013

Shirley and family,

We have missed having you two in our ward back here in Richland. We'll never forget meeting up with you while you were serving in China, and we were adopting Maika, and going to dinner together on the river, and also to the only place in that part of the country that served burgers and shakes. It was wonderful to spend time with you two under those circumstances. I also enjoyed seeing Glendon at work at PNNL, although we worked in different fields. Glendon was a great example of kindness and he will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to you and the rest of your family.

With love,

Jim and Lori Becker

Nick & Verla Walters

February 6, 2013

Shirley and family,
Thinking of you at this sorrowful time. Please know of our love for you and your family. We will always remember Glendon as a wonderful man, so pleasant and loveable. May you be blessed with peace and comfort.
Love,
The Walters

John Smoot

February 4, 2013

I worked closely with Glendon for many years at PNNL. We spent a lot of time in airplanes going to visit the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington, DC and interesting sites in the southwest when we weren't busy working on the Hanford vadose zone. Glendon always had a great attitude about not sweating the small stuff and keeping the big picture in mind. I asked him to be on my dissertation committee and together we worked through some interesting soil science.

My condolences to his family. He was a great guy. My thoughts are with you.

February 4, 2013

When I arrived at Battelle, fresh out of college, Glendon took me under his wing and was a mentor. He mentored me and others and helped us get started on our work path. We looked to him for technical and life advice. He was very knowledgeable and a recognized authority in his field. Always speaking calmly and reassuringly, he never spoke ill of anyone.

I count myself blessed to have known him and will always remember him and his example. He was a Christ-like man who will be missed on this earth but welcomed with open arms by our Savior. I am sorry for your loss and pray for you during these difficult times.

Stan Peterson - Othello, WA

lloyd and Ileen Harrison

February 3, 2013

Sister Gee we are so sorry to hear of your loss. We loved glendon and his loving kindness to us while we were in New Zealand together. We looked forward to the fresh fruits and vegetables from his garden and especially we looked forward to the games that we played with you. I always lost but you were both pros . You were kind to let me get as many points as I did. It is so wonderful we have the gospel in our lives and know that he is continuing missionary work on the other side just waiting for you to join him, You could always see the love you had for each other. He will be missed by many but leaves many behind that will follow in his footsteps. Love Ileen and Lloyd Harrison

Cheryl and Rick Cantrell

February 3, 2013

Dear Shirley and Family,
I am grateful to Glendon for being such a good man. His example of being honest, hard working and true to his family and to his God, will live on for generations to come. We are so glad to have known him and have the good fortune of our daughter marrying James and joining your family. We pray that our Lord and Savior will give you peace, comfort and direction during this difficult time. Our Prayers will continue to be with you.
Sincerely,
Cheryl and Rick

February 3, 2013

Glendon was a friend and a man of extreme knowledge, kindness, integrity and love. He made me laugh and had such a fun nature throughout some difficult final times. Shirley and Family, Thanks for sharing him with the rest of us. Zane

Gayle Noga

February 3, 2013

To Shirley and family, May the Lord bless and comfort you at this time. I will always remember your help and love to my family.

Diane Greenhalgh Krieg

February 2, 2013

So thankful to Glendon and Shirley for helping my daughter Kira when you guys were serving in New Zealand, you were a breath of home during a hard time in her life, you brought friendship, kindness, and a listening ear. I knew when we pulled away from the New Zealand Temple that day that that was the last time I would see you in this life, even though you thought you might get to go to Richland again.

Thank you for living a wonderful life.

February 2, 2013

We will miss Glendon! We enjoyedthe visits we had when you would travel from Washington to Utah. All our Love and faith and Prayers go our to your family. We love you! Guy and GaNene Nelson

Thomas Nicholson

February 1, 2013

Shirley, and Glendon's family and friends:

I am very sorry to learn of Glendon's passing late today. Please accept my condolences since I will not be able to attend his viewing and funeral.

Glendon made significant contributions to the soil science community and especially to our work at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

I remember vividly the many research meetings and field excursions with Glendon. He was a very special person with tremendous technical insights based upon his wealth of field study experiences. One memorable meeting was the Soil Science Society of America meeting in Denver, Colorado in late October 1991. At that meeting, Daniel Hillel, who Glendon thought very highly, “read” an excellent paper. I was asked to be on a panel with Daniel Hillel to identify and discuss future innovations and technologies. I mentioned the possibility of detailed numerical models to simulate and visualize soil water and chemicals advancing from the land surface to the local water table which would become important tools to communicate contaminant issues to the public. Daniel Hillel and others thought visualization via numerical modeling might be misleading (and in some cases dangerous) since people would be more prone to believe the speculative modeling results since seeing is believing. In contrast, Glendon remembered viewing actual water front “curtains” moving down the face of a deeply excavated wall at the Las Cruces Trench. The water and chemical tracer experiments he helped design. A protégé of Glendon's, Mark Rockhold would later simulate those experiments and provide visualizations that advanced vadose zone hydrology. For me, the highlight of that trip was meeting Glendon's father and hearing his stories about working for the Weather Service in Wyoming. Glendon was very proud of his father, a live-long Federal scientist. That influenced me greatly as a Federal employee. I also remember the wonderful recognition dinner and prestigious award presented to Glendon at the American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans in May 2005. It was a very enjoyable evening for Glendon, you and your family.

Glendon had a tremendous influence on my career. I am very appreciative. I learned a great deal from his innovative research studies; his consultation on significant issues for safeguarding low-level radioactive waste and uranium mill tailings; the development of regulatory guidance on monitoring and modeling radionuclide migration in the vadose zone; and the numerous meetings and field trips to the Las Cruces Trench experiments and many, many others. In all of our encounters, he was the wise and genuine mentor. One special journey with Glendon was a day-long trip in a rental car through the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico. It was a classic Glendon tour-de-force on soil hydrology. JR Philip and numerous international experts were at that workshop which Glendon help organize at the Inn of the Mountain Gods near Mescalero, NM. Glendon was highly regarded by everyone present. Together, Glendon and I visited many field study sites and learned directly from the investigators who enthusiastically shared their knowledge with us. That trip personified Glendon, since he always emphasized field studies and learning first-hand about soil processes. My first meeting with Glendon was in 1983 at Hanford. He and I were in a van that toured the springs emanating radionuclides along the Columbia River near the G Reactor. 23 years later Glendon, Mark Rockhold and Phil Meyer returned to that location to view “pump and treat” remediation efforts. Glendon taught me a great deal, both technically and as a personal mentor. He was always seeking out knowledge first-hand, and to learn again and again about nature's wonders. That is why I am so sad. I miss him.

I wish you, your children and grand children peace and so many good memories of Glendon. He was a very special mentor.

My thoughts and prayers will be with you and Glendon's colleagues at his funeral.

Thanks for Glendon ……………. Tom

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