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BORN
1980
DIED
2015
John Esser Obituary
John "Ernie" Esser died Sunday, 8 March 2015, at a hospital in Reykjavik, Iceland, of complications from the flu and pneumonia, which he suffered on a flight home from Europe.
Ernie was a mathematician who grew up in Bothell and graduated from the University of Washington and UCLA. He was born May 19, 1980, in Seattle, the day after Mount St. Helens erupted. Ernie attended Northshore schools and graduated from the UW in 2003 with degrees in math, applied math and Italian, the native language of his mother.
Ernie earned his mathematics Ph.D. from UCLA in 2010 and did postdoctoral research at University of California Irvine until 2013. He was currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Seismic Laboratory for Imaging and Modelling (SLIM) at the University of British Columbia.
Ernie is survived by his parents, Doug and Rita Esser of Bothell, his brother Mike of Bellevue, uncles, aunts and cousins. He had countless friends.
SLIM Lab director Felix J. Herrmann said Ernie "was a fantastic researcher working on a wide variety of problems ranging from full-waveform inversion to blind-deconvolution. Ernie was an extremely enthusiastic and extremely talented researcher who was, above all, immensely generous with his time and ideas."
His friend Samuel Coskey said, "But what made Ernie exceptional to me was that he was never, ever, mean or nasty or cynical about anything. Period. He was always saying things that make you feel good."
Ernie biked everywhere, played soccer, hiked, flew boomerangs and made wine and mead to share with friends.
He maintained close ties with his UW mentor, math Professor James Allen Morrow, and returned each spring to conduct a "Why boomerangs come back" presentation at the UW Math Day program for high school students.
Remembrances may be made to support Math Day:
https://www.washington.edu/giving/make-a-gift/?source_typ=3&source=MATHDA
A celebration of Ernie will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 21, at Life Celebrations by Washelli, 18224 103rd Ave NE, Bothell 98011.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for John Esser
Sponsored by The Family.
Bothell High School Alumni Association, Sunshine Committee
April 4, 2015
Go forth today, by the help of God's Spirit, vowing and declaring that in life come poverty, come wealth, in death - come pain or come what may, you are and ever must be the Lord's. For this is written on your heart, We love Him because He first loved us.' ~ Charles Spurgeon
Sincere Condolences.
Doug Esser
March 18, 2015
Here's a link to Flickr photos compiled by UW Professor Jim Morrow:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/63956609@N06/sets/72157651419512162/
Doug Esser
March 18, 2015
Ray, John and Peter, Thanks for the comments and the great soccer memories. Doug
Peter Mongillo
March 16, 2015
Ernie and I grew up together on the soccer field (Stars). He was such a positive person and always had a smile on his face. At school he was sharp as a pin and he had the natural ability to learn everything. He was compassionate and everyone liked him. He left a imprint on me. It just breaks my heart to hear the world lost a good one. My thoughts are with all those who knew him but specifically his family. Thanks for sharing him with us growing up and doing an amazing job raising him to be the man he was. He will not be forgotten. What an amazing life he had! God Bless
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Paula Rhyne
March 16, 2015
My sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ernie. He was such an wonderful person with a huge heart. Truly one-of-a-kind in all the best ways.
March 16, 2015
Am sorry for your loss...will uphold the family in prayer-Laurene Pfeil
Ray Gagner
March 16, 2015
My prayers are with the family. I am glad to have known Ernie
John Pfeil
March 16, 2015
So very sad, I loved Ernie. Soccer for a decade on the "Stars" club team and tennis teammates a great friend and classmate. This world lost a great one--my heart aches to hear of this...my thoughts go out to his family who were always so gracious with me growing up.
-John Pfeil, Bothell High Class 1998
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