Ronald N. Hartman

HARTMAN, Ronald N.

Ronald N. Hartman passed away on August 30, 2011, after a brief illness. He was a Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Planetarium at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California for 38 years and was well-known in the community of meteorite collectors and hunters. His passion for meteorites was kindled when he studied astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles under the renowned meteoriticist Frederick C. Leonard, a founder of the Meteoritical Society. He worked at Griffith
Observatory giving public lectures in the 1960s and began investigating California dry lakes for the presence of meteorites. He discovered the Lucerne Dry Lake strewn field in 1963 and returned to that site in 1999 to find more of the illusive little black rocks from space. Throughout his career he continued to hunt for meteorites, first at Meteor Crater, Arizona and Odessa, Texas. He found, traded, bought, cut and sold meteorites as well as tektites and shatter cones and built up a large collection, part of which is displayed at the Mt. San Antonio College Planetarium and library. In 2005 he founded R. N. Hartman, Inc., a company that manufactures, assembles and distributes membrane suspension boxes worldwide.

He received an Associate in Arts degree in 1956 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Astronomy in 1959 from the University of California, Los Angeles and an Master of Arts in Education from California State University at Los Angeles in 1973. Ron loved astronomy, he loved teaching and he loved sharing the wonders of the night sky with his students at star parties. He continued teaching even after he retired in 2005. He was fascinated by archeoastronomy and traveled to Egypt to study astronomical alignments in ancient monuments. He was active in the Pacific Planetarium Association and the International Planetarium Society. He served as an editor of the Planetarian Magazine from 1978 - 1981. In 1984 he received the ISP Service Award, the ISP's most prestigious honor.

Ron was the oldest son of Albert and Evelyn Hartman. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 23, 1935, and moved to California at the age of 10. In 1965 he married Petrea Nelson of Reno, Nevada. He is survived by his wife and two sons, James and Rick Hartman, his brother Chris Hartman, a nephew Christopher Hartman, niece Laural Neable, and four grandchildren, William, Maggie, Jonathan and Katie.

A celebration of Ron Hartman's life will be held at the Mt. SAC Randall Planetarium, Mt. San Antonio College, 1100 North Grand Ave., Walnut, California, on Thursday, March 29, at 5:30 p.m.