Barry Granoff

Barry Granoff

(1940 - 2025)

We are saddened to announce the death of Barry Granoff, a long-time Albuquerque resident, retired Sandia National Laboratory researcher, and loving husband, father, and grandfather. Barry passed away on March 20, 2025 at the Retreat Gardens in Rio Rancho. He was predeceased by his parents, Louis and Gussie Chaykin Granoff, by his brother Robert who died in Vietnam, and by his step-daughter Paula Pringle. He is survived by his loving wife of almost 30 years, Anita Castellano-Granoff, by his son Louis J. Granoff of Albuquerque, by his daughter Robyne Granoff Germany and her husband Michael of Cypress, Texas, and by his granddaughters Sarah Granoff Schwartz and husband Jesse of Albuquerque, Kayla and Meghan Germany of Cypress, Texas, and Alexandra Raya Pringle who lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Barry was born September 7, 1940 in New York City. Both of his parents were born in Russian Ukraine and came to this country as infants in the early 1900s. Barry grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. After high school, he attended City College of New York (now City University of New York) where he earned a BS in chemistry in 1962. That led to a scholarship to Princeton University for graduate school. About halfway through his graduate studies, Barry's major professor at Princeton accepted a new position at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, and told Barry that the position included a graduate assistantship for Barry to complete his graduate research at Ames Laboratory (now Ames National Laboratory), but that his PhD would still come from Princeton. Barry accepted the offer and moved to Iowa in the summer of 1964.

Much of Barry's research for his doctorate involved analyzing data using sophisticated computer programs. It was at the Iowa State Computer Center that Barry met his first wife, Marianne Manley Granoff. They married in 1965 and divorced in 1980.

In 1966, Barry completed his research in Iowa, received his PhD in physical chemistry from Princeton, and accepted a position at the Dupont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. His son, Louis was also born that year. By late 1968, Barry was interested in having a bit more variety in his research than Dupont offered and began exploring other opportunities. In 1969, he accepted a position at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, and he and his family moved to New Mexico. His daughter Robyne was born shortly after he started working at Sandia. He happily worked for Sandia National Labs for more than 25 years both as a researcher and in management.

Barry was a lifelong learner and a teacher. Growing up in Brooklyn, he learned that the combination of education and humor was a potent formula for success. That formula sustained and energized him for most of his life. He brought that combination of education and humor with him when he worked at Sandia National Laboratory, and as a volunteer at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. He also used education and humor when he was a lecturer in undergraduate honors classes at UNM, as a member of the Advisory Board at New Mexico Tech, and as an Intel ISEF (International Science & Engineering Fair) Grand Awards Judge. The use of education and humor served him especially well as a tutor for the Albuquerque Reads Program ("Help Them Learn to Read... And You Open a New World"), and as an instructor for Lifelong Learning New Mexico.

Barry always realized the importance of contributing to our community as a volunteer. He said that volunteering also helped him move out of his own comfort zone and learn new things for himself. Barry will be greatly missed by his family and friends, and by those whose lives he touched as a volunteer. The family wishes to thank the staff at the Retreat Gardens Facility in Rio Rancho, where Barry resided for the past several months, for their care and support during Barry's last few months.

Barry will be interred at Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque. Donations in remembrance of Barry may be made to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Foundation at

https://www.naturalhistoryfoundation.org/support-us

A memorial service for Barry will be held at a later time.