Maris Arvids Abolins

MARIS ARVIDS ABOLINS

February 5, 1938 - September 13, 2022

Maris Abolins was born on February 5, 1938 in Liepaja Latvia and passed away in a hospital in Sarasota Florida from respiratory and organ failure attributed to a massive stroke he suffered 14 years prior.

Maris was the 4th oldest in a family of 7 children who, with their parents, Arvid and Olga Abolins, left Latvia on October 24, 1944, for Germany to escape the Russian Communist invasion of Latvia. Until the family was able to immigrate to the United States in April of 1949 they live in a Displaced Peoples (DPs) camp in Esslingen Germany. The family traveled to Washington State and eventually settled in Sumner Washington.

Maris attended Sumner Public Schools where he excelled in academics, athletics and as a student leader. He was Student Body President, class Valedictorian and received all-conference honors in football, basketball, and track. In addition, he and his partner won the State of Washington Debate Championship.

He was one of the first nominees to the just-established Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado which he turned down for the National Merit Scholar Scholarship to the University of Washington. At the University Of Washington he was president of his fraternity Theta Chi, he played varsity basketball and on December 19, 1959 he married his high school sweetheart Frances Delano. He graduated from the University of Washington with honors receiving Bachelor of Science magna cum laude in Physics and elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society for high academic achievement of GPA above 3.8 and Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society and member of Latvian Academic Fraternity Patria.

He was accepted in Post Graduate Physics at the University of California in San Diego and in 1965 he received his PHD in High Energy Physics. After 3 years as a physicist at Lawrence Berkely Laboratory he accepted a position with the Michigan State University(MSU) Physics faculty. Maris published numerous scientific papers and received a number of awards during his 43 years at MSU including Professor Emeritus High Energy Physics- Experimental and Distinguished Faculty Award. Maris was key member of MSU research group supporting CERN experiments uncovering what the universe is made of and how it works. It was not all work and no play for Maris at MSU. He was very active in volleyball, downhill skiing, and tennis. His travel allowed him and his wife Frances to visit many interesting countries and experience some of the top restaurants in the world. He made a point of eating at a Michelin restaurant every chance he had. Maris was proud of his daughter Krista and her 4 children and especially his son Mark who made it possible for him to live at home following his stroke.

Maris was proceeded in death by his beautiful wife Frances Delano (October 24, 2018), his parents Arvids Gustavs Abolins (1995) and Olga Elizabet (Grintals) Abolins (1995), sister Biruta (Abolins) Grundmanis, brothers Uldis Abolins (2002) and Ivars Abolins (2003). Maris is survived by his daughter Krista (Abolins) Sonne and her 4 children Tuleh, Luca, Leif and Tess (Chappaque, NewYork), son Mark Abolins (Longboat Key, Florida), sisters Dzintra (Abolins) Colberg(Palmer, Alaska) and Austra (Abolins) Gauger(Oakland, California) and brother Talis Abolins (Lakebay, Washington).

A memorial service is planned at time of Maris Urn burial in the New Tacoma Cemetery Latvian Section sometime in 2023.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the West Coast Latvian Education Center.