Ellen Jean Hardebeck

1939 - 2024

Ellen Hardebeck, a long-time Owens Valley resident, died at her home in Bishop, CA, on July 26, 2024 from complications of Alzheimer's Disease. She was born on July 25, 1939 to Philip Gundermann, a business reporter, and Louise (LeTourneau) Gundermann, a homemaker, in Chicago, Illinois. She grew up in Park Forest, IL, and attended school there. She earned an AB in physics at the University of Chicago in 1961, at a time when there were few women in science. She became a graduate student at Harvard University, and earned a PhD in 1965 for early observations by radio telescope of the hydroxyl molecule in celestial objects. As a post-doc at Cornell, she used the large Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico to observe scintillation ("sparkling") of radio sources. When she became a post-doc at the California Institute of Technology, she continued her hydroxyl observations.
Ellen moved to the Owens Valley in 1972 with her husband, Harry, and her baby daughter Jeanne. She was very active with the League of Women Voters and served on the Boards of the Mono Lake Committee and the Inland Counties Health Systems Agency. From 1985 to 2004 she was the Air Pollution Control Officer for the Great Basin Air Pollution Control District, and was instrumental in the abatement of dust from Owens Lake. In 2004, she received the Environmental Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Ellen is survived by her husband of 55 years, Harry Hardebeck of Bishop; a daughter, Jeanne Hardebeck of Sunnyvale, CA; a brother, John Gundermann of Hershey, PA; a sister, Christl Singer of Glenview, IL; and four nephews. She is also survived by two step-sons: Philip Hardebeck of Needham, MA, and Stuart Fleischaker of Louisville, KY; and a stepdaughter, Eleanor Hawkins of Dillon, CO.
Those wishing to remember Ellen may contribute to Wildcare Eastern Sierra at www.eswildcare.org.