Tom Berkey

1939 - 2020

Tom Berkey
May 11, 1939 - September 13, 2020
Frank Thomas (Tom) Berkey, beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle and friend, passed away from a sudden illness in Portland, Oregon, on September 13, 2020, surrounded by his wife and three daughters. A private graveside service was held on September 30, 2020, at Parkhill Cemetery in Vancouver, Washington.
Tom was born in Bozeman, Montana on May 11, 1939, to Nora Gausvik and Frank O. Berkey. He grew up and attended school in Vancouver, Washington. He was a Boy Scout, a soap box car racer and an avid ham radio enthusiast. He attended Clark College, and received his BS from Linfield College. Tom married his high school sweetheart Susan in 1962, and for their honeymoon, they drove the Alaska Highway to Fairbanks, Alaska. He completed his MS and PhD in Upper Atmospheric Physics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Tom and his growing family traversed cold weather climates from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Tromso, Norway, to Calgary, Alberta, and eventually settled in Logan, Utah. He worked at Utah State University in the Physics Department from 1978-2004, through the Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences and the Atmospheric Space Dynamics Lab. From 1991-2005, he was involved with data analysis from the Bear Lake Observatory. Throughout his career, he published, authored and co-authored dozens of research articles, even in retirement.
Tom's research led to travel and work at sites all over the world. He spent a significant amount of time running research projects in Antarctica, where he was United States Antarctic Program principal investigator for observation of the ionosphere from Siple Station, 1982-83, and from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, 1984-95. In 2005, the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names named Berkey Valley after Tom for his research in the area and its impact over decades.
Throughout his life, Tom enjoyed spending time with his family, traveling, working hard, reading, listening to music and NPR, chasing the aurora borealis, photography, playing tennis, computing, using new technology, observing and collecting weather data, collecting art, the family cats and driving and tinkering with Saabs. He started driving a Saab in 1973 and never looked back. After many happy years in Cache Valley, and after retiring from Utah State University, Tom and Susan moved to White Salmon, Washington, to enjoy stunning views of the Columbia River Gorge.
Tom is preceded in death by his parents and sister Patricia Hackett. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Susan (Kettenring) Berkey, his daughters, Alison Berkey (Suresh Manickam), Annica Berkey (Ed Lujan), Britta Berkey (Mike Gardner), and seven grandchildren: Nishanthi, Pablo, Stella, Anulekha, Diego, Vivi and Siddhartha.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to plant camelias at Parkhill Cemetery in Vancouver, WA, through Yard N' Garden Land at 360.573.7172.