Theodore Prey Jorgensen

Theodore Prey Jorgensen, 100, Lincoln, died Sunday (4/2/06). Born, Long Ridge, Conn. (11/13/05). Ted was and the grandson and great-grandson of John W. Prey and John D. Prey, who were the first permanent settlers of Lancaster County in 1856. His parents were Theodore Jorgensen (of Denmark) and Anne Elizabeth Prey (of Roca). Ted was the oldest of five children.

In 1923 he entered the University of Nebraska, receiving his B.A. in 1928, and M.A. in 1930. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Harvard in 1935. He then served as an instructor at Harvard and Clark universities. He returned to Lincoln in 1938, where he enjoyed the rest of his teaching and research career at the University of Nebraska physics department.

During World War II, he was recruited to serve with the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, N.M. Returning to UNL, Ted directed the Nebraska Accelerator Project (1946-67), was department chairman (1949-52), received the Distinguished Teaching Award (1963), and was a fellow at Centennial College (1969-70). He retired in 1975 and then directed his energies to golf research and the writing of his book, "The Physics of Golf" (1994). His last research paper, "Relativity and the Quantum," was published in 1998 in the International Journal of Theoretical Physics.

Ted was a fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Mu Epsilon and Sigma Tau.

He will be remembered by many for his lifetime interest and abilities in education and research, classical music and the art of Chinese cooking.

Survivors: wife, Dorothy A., and her children, F. Leigh Pelton, Arizona, John Tom Pelton (Patty), New Jersey, and James G. Pelton (Lynn) and their children, Briana and Alicia, Washington. He is also survived by a daughter, Joanna Prey Kaestner (Pete); grandson, Steven Prey Kaestner (Kathleen); and two great-grandchildren, Evan and Beth, all Albuquerque, N.M. Other survivors include two sisters-in-law and eight nieces and nephews.

Memorial services: 11 a.m. Saturday, Sheridan Lutheran Church, 6955 Old Cheney Road. Memorial donations will be appreciated by the University of Nebraska Physics Department, in care of Roger Kirby, 116 Brace Lab, Lincoln, NE 68588-0111; and Sheridan Lutheran Educational Scholarship Program, 6955 Old Cheney Road, Lincoln, NE 68516.