Ewen A. WHITAKER

WHITAKER, Ewen A. 94, a Tucson resident since 1960 passed away Tuesday, October 11, 2016 after a brief illness. Ewen was born in Woolwich, S.E. London, England on June 22, 1922. He graduated from the Roan School for Boys and Woolwich Polytechnic. Ewen married the love of his life, Beryl Horswell on his 24th birthday in 1946. They were happily married for 67 years before her death in 2013. During World War II, Ewen worked for Siemens Brothers on a secret project to lay a pipeline under the English Channel to supply gasoline to Allied troops in France. Following his interest in astronomy, Ewen worked at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. He met Dr. Gerard Kuiper at a meeting in 1955 and was asked to move to Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin. He helped create an up-to-date atlas of the moon and followed Dr. Kuiper when he established the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona in 1960. Ewen's work on naming craters and charting the moon's surface was instrumental in the NASA astronauts being able to locate safe and interesting landing sites during later manned missions. He successfully located the landing site of Surveyor III for the astronauts of Apollo 12 to investigate. Ewen was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Arizona in May 2011 for his lifelong work in lunar cartography and nomenclature and "service to science and mankind." Ewen also loved mending and collecting clocks. He was a member of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors and enjoyed doing "show and tell" with some of the clocks he had rescued from antique shops on his many trips back to England. He is survived by sons, Malcolm (Ruth) and Graham (Brenda); daughter, Fiona Andrews (John); four granddaughters, Kathryn Whitaker Aronson, Emily Layman, Gillian Clark and Sarah Andrews and grandson, Derik Whitaker. A Memorial Service will be held at St. Alban's Episcopal Church Saturday, November, 12, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers (which Beryl would have thought were a total waste of money) please make a donation in memory of Ewen to KUAT-FM Classical 90.5 music station. He listened to classical music every day and was one of the station's greatest fans. Ewen is greatly missed by his family and all his fellow astronomers and friends. Arrangements by EAST LAWN PALMS MORTUARY.