Michael McGie

MICHAEL MCGIE Michael R. McGie was born in Gridley on December 30th, 1934 to Joseph and Lettie (Rushton) McGie and passed away on April 17th, 2018. He is survived by his wife Nancy, his daughters Mandy Gardner of Forest Ranch and Beth McGie (Lars Sundelius) of Chico, step-daughter Summer Marshall and stepson Shawn Marshall both of Chico, and 10 grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother Alan of Paradise and sisters Tami of Santa Cruz and Lynnette of Chico and his first wife, Izella Evans of Chico. His beloved son, Mike II, predeceased him. Mike enjoyed an idyllic life as a child in Gridley where he was known as "Mickey". He attended public schools in Gridley and graduated from Gridley High in 1952. He was well known for his prowess as a football player and hurdler on the track team at Gridley high. Mike enrolled at Chico State College and graduated in 1957. During his college years he was raising a young family, working at a number of seasonal and part-time jobs, including two seasons of 48 hours a week on the graveyard shift (midnight to 8 AM) at the Libby, McNiell & Libby cannery in Gridley during the fall pumpkin canning. Upon graduation Mike was hired as a physicist by the US Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) at China Lake. He spent most of his time there as a rocket scientist specializing in solid-propellant rockets. Mike took night classes every semester in physics and mathematics through UCLA extension and was rewarded with a one year scholarship to study physics at UCLA. He received a Master's degree from UCLA in Applied Physics in January of 1962. Upon his return to China Lake he was able to play a critical role in solving a problem in solid-propellant rocketry that until then had been intractable. It was one of his proudest achie-vements. Mike left China Lake in the fall of 1962 to return to his graduate studies in physics, but he was called back on an emergency basis in 1965, and he spent a very productive summer there selecting a propellant that would work well in large solid propellant rockets. Mike enrolled as a graduate student at UC Davis in the fall of 1962 and received a Ph.D., in physics from UCD in 1967. Mike was physics professor at Chico State from 1966 to 2002. He served as Chair of the Physics Department for a total of ten years. In 1973 he and his family were in Lund, Sweden, where Mike did research and taught at Lund University. Two years later Mike was appointed Resident Director for the International Programs in Sweden and Denmark, where he supervised students from the various CSU campuses who were studying during a "junior year abroad" at Uppsala University in Sweden and Copenhagen University in Denmark. Mike was proud of his work as a rocket scientist and his research in particle physics and nuclear physics, but he was mostly interested in teaching. He jokingly described himself as "the best physics teacher in the history of the world" although he was generous enough to admit that his good friend and colleague, Fred Boos, was a close second. For those who would like to make a contribution in Mike's memory there are two scholarships benefitting physics students at Chico State that he would suggest: the Michael R McGie Service Award first and then the Arloe Anania Murray award. A private graveside will be held at Chico Cemetery. Celebration of life service will be at the family house Saturday May 19, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. 18 Lower Lake Ct. Chico, CA 95928. To send online condoles to the family go to NewtonBracewell.com.