John H. Nath

1926 – 2015

John Henry "Jack" Nath of Corvallis died on March 9, 2015, at the age of 88.

He was born in Walla Walla, Washington, to Bernice (née McGrath) and Robert Nath on April 22, 1926. When Jack was 8 months old, his father started to include him in his vaudeville tumbling act. He, his brother and his father performed for a few years in small-town venues up and down the West Coast. Short clips of "The Three Naths" were shown at intermission in movie theaters across the country.

After his family settled in San Diego, Jack spent his free time hiking, fishing and hunting with friends, and enjoyed body surfing. It was there that his fascination with waves was born, as well as his love of nature, which he shared with his family and friends throughout his life.

He enlisted in the Army near the end of World War II, and was stationed on a PT boat in Cuba. He was able to go to college on the G.I. Bill, and decided to attend University of Colorado in Boulder because his best friend told him that the trout fishing was great there.

This decision led to one of the most momentous events of his life, when he met his future wife, Jean Ennis, at a party in 1947. In 1949 he took a break from college to go surveying on the South Pacific island of Eniwetok. There he enjoyed swimming in the ocean and collecting the shells he displayed in his Corvallis home.

In 1950 he and Jean were married, and the next year he graduated from CU with a degree in engineering and simultaneously received his first honor from the American Society of Civil Engineers: Outstanding Senior.

In 1960 he joined the faculty at Colorado State University and moved with Jean and their four children to Fort Collins. From 1964 to 1966 he earned a doctorate in civil engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and enjoyed a sabbatical year at Oregon State University from 1967 to 1968. In 1970 the family moved back to Corvallis to stay.

Jack was recognized worldwide as one of the top scientists in the study of wave dynamics. In 1970 he designed and built the OSU Wave Basin, now the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory. With the completion of the original facility, he and his colleagues were able to develop empirical data on the dynamics of waves both in the open ocean as well as near shore.

One of his former associates at OSU recalls Jack's time as director of the wave basin: "Jack was ethical, genuine and sincere, someone who accomplished things. He never shied away from being a leader. He was a real performer."

In 1979, Jack was funded by the ASCE as a Distinguished Professor to teach wave dynamics in Japan for three months. He and Jean learned some Japanese and enjoyed the people, culture and food. Jack was honored for his research with several awards from the ASCE, including the Moffat-Nichols Award in 1985 for the best work in his field in the United States.

Among his many accomplishments, Jack designed a way to keep large monitoring buoys upright in the open ocean, baffle-like systems to protect oil-drilling platforms in the North Sea from large waves, and determined how the wave forces on pilings increased as the level of crustaceans and soft organisms increased. He took up scuba diving to complete this latter research, and enjoyed diving for many years.

It wasn't just engineering that moved him. At the height of the civil rights movement, Jack and Jean were determined to show solidarity with the fight for equality for all; they drove into Roxbury, Massachusetts, with their children to attend a protest concert featuring the singer Odetta.

Jack made a difference in the world in other ways: He and Jean were very supportive of Greenbelt Land Trust, the Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society and Oregon Public Broadcasting. Jack and Jean served on the Greenbelt Land Trust Board of Directors from 1997 to 2004.

After retiring, Jack loved spending time learning, traveling with Jean, enjoying music, fishing, gardening, backpacking, hiking, river rafting, photographing nature and volunteering. Some former astronomy students may remember the stargazing parties at his house outside Corvallis. His last creative effort was to design and build a beautiful new house on top of the hill he loved.

His family and friends were dismayed to see his intellect gradually destroyed by Alzheimer's disease. The family is grateful for the loving care he received at Holistic Hands Care in Corvallis. Jack was preceded in death by Jean on Aug. 14 of last year, and is survived by children Eric, Charles (Imuris Nath), Sarah (David Chaney) and Jack; and by grandchildren Robert, Thomas, Marian, Oliver and Winslow.

The family requests that those who wish to make a donation in Jack's name give to the Nature Conservancy or Greenbelt Land Trust.