Barry Turner

TURNER, Barry Earl 8 September 1935 10 May 2008 Born in Victoria, BC, Canada, Barry was the elder son of John (`Jack') Turner and Elsie Hazel. Barry lived a couple of his early years in Halifax, Nova Scotia, when his father was serving in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. The family, including younger brother Brian returned to Victoria in 1942. Barry attended Sir James Douglas Elementary School, and Victoria High School. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 1959, with a B.Sc. degree in Honours Physics. Remaining at UBC, he earned a Master's degree in Solid State Physics in 1962. During this period he met his future wife, Margaret-Anne Gourlay of Vancouver, marrying in September 1961. PostM.Sc. they moved to Ottawa, where Barry was employed by the National Research Council for 15 months, working on Solid State Physics research. While there he published the first of many scientific papers. He had always been keenly interested in Astronomy, and they moved to the University of California at Berkeley in 1964, where he earned his Ph.D. degree in 1967. During his Ph.D. work he was part of a group that discovered the hydroxyl ion in interstellar space, only the fourth such compound discovered to that date. After his Ph.D., Barry accepted a research position with the National Radio Astronomy Organization (NRAO), based on the campus of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, which was to be his home for the duration of his professional career. His early work there opened up pathways to the existence and structure of very high-density molecular gases. These gas clouds comprise many of the molecules which are found in life on our planet. Over the course of his career, he gained an international reputation, attending many international scientific meetings to present his research. His research was carried out at many radio-telescopes, including in Arecibo (Puerto Rico), Greenbank (West Virginia), Kitt Peak (Arizona), Hawaii, and the VLA (Very Large Array) in New Mexico. He served on a number of committees designing or aiding the operation of new radio-telescopes in several countries including China, Japan and Chile. Over the course of his career, he published well over 200 scientific papers, including an early article in Scientific American for layman consumption, explaining his complex world of research. The onset of Parkinson's disease eventually ended his NRAO career in late 2006. Barry was a most dedicated scientist, normally returning to his office in the evening, and working weekends. He had a life-long interest in classical music, having started piano lessons at age 5, and continuing on to reach Grade 10 of the Toronto Conservatory of Music's program. He would often end his day at home playing his Petroff grand piano, his stress reliever. Barry was predeceased by his parents, but is survived by his wife Margaret of 46 years, his brother Brian (Nelda), and their children Bruce and Colleen, two aunts (Phyllis Hocken and Eileen Hocken) and two cousins (Michael Hocken and Laurel Stanley), all living in British Columbia. He left his Charlottesville home and was transferred to Martha Jefferson Infirmary in October 2007, where he spent the rest of his life. A memorial service will be held in Charlottesville on May 21, with additional memorial gatherings intended in his natal city of Victoria and also Vancouver, dates and locations to be decided. 467396