James Ricker Wilson

James Ricker Wilson Resident of Livermore James Ricker Wilson of Livermore, died on August 14, 2007. Dr. Wilson was born October 21, 1922, in Berkeley, California, to Leslie and Ethel Wilson. After earning a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, he served in the U.S. Army at Los Alamos researching the properties of plutonium. He returned to Berkeley and earned a doctorate in the physics of neutrinos in 1952. After a year at Sandia Laboratory in Albuquerque, he joined the Lawrence Livermore Radiation laboratory, where he worked until his death. His expertise was computational physics, initially applied to classified projects. In 1968, he took a sabbatical year at Cambridge to study astrophysics. He applied many of his previous computational codes to public research for the next thirty-seven years. His professional recognition includes a Marcel Grossman Award in 1994 for work in relativistic astrophysics. In April 2007, the American Physical Society honored him with the Hans Bethe Award for "his work in nuclear astrophysics and numerical work on supernovae core-collapse, neutrino transport, and shock-propagation. His codes re-energized supernovae shocks and launched numerical relativity and magnetically driven jets." Jim met his future wife, Demetra Corombos, while climbing in the Canadian Bugaboos in 1947. They married on February 24, 1949, and enjoyed 56 years marriage until death parted them in 2005. He is survived by his brother William (Florence) Wilson and by his children, Leslie Ramsey Wilson, II; Marika (Thomas) Smith; George (Sharman) Wilson; Tasia (Thomas) James; and Peter Banker Wilson. He is also survived by his seventeen beloved grandchildren: Lisa (Craig) Almaguer; Alan McIntyre Smith; Stuart Wagers Smith; Edward Michael Marsh; Demetra Canna Smith; Thea Marika Wilson; Glen Ricker Florey; Amber Celeste Wilson; Sarah Tasia Wilson; John Sheldon Marsh; Andrew Wilson Smith; Owen Cotton Florey; Lyle Avery Wilson; Marian Elizabeth Brighid James; Philip Carl Smith; Patrick Thomas James ; Duncan Ricker Smith; and two great-grandchildren, Mira Sophia Almaguer and Camille Wren Almaguer. Jim Wilson was known to friends and family for his mountain adventures including annual week-long family back-packing trips in the High Sierras, which continued a tradition established by his father in 1903. He made rock-climbing first-ascents in Yosemite Valley and Sequoia; mountaineering in British Columbia; and a month-long ascent in 1967 of Hummingbird Ridge on Mt. Logan, still considered the hardest mountaineering route in North America, which has not been repeated. His winter ski of the John Muir Trail was the first done without caches. Jim has many friends and relatives who will cherish their memories of his lively mind, fierce determination, and mischievous sense of humor. A Funeral Mass will be offered at St Michael's Catholic Church, 458 Maple Street, Livermore, at 10 a.m. on Monday, August 20. There will also be a Memorial Service at the Unitarian Church, 1893 North Vasco Road, Livermore, at 12 noon the same day. All are invited. Callaghan Mortuary & Livermore Crematory (925) 447-2942