Lorne David Matheson

The world lost a beautiful soul when Lorne David Matheson passed away on June 30th, 2024. For nearly 87 years, he lived a rich life full of family, learning, sharing, science, faith, and an incredibly wide variety of interests. We will all remember his warmth, his generosity, his gentle smile, and his dedication to all of us.

Lorne was born on July 23rd, 1937 in Saginaw, Michigan to Lorne Alexander Matheson and Agatha Matheson (Linsenmann). With his brother, Bob, and his sister, Kathy, he spent his childhood in Midland, Michigan. In 1951, Lorne moved with his family to Boulder. He graduated from Boulder High School in 1955 and from the University of Colorado with a degree in Physics in 1960.

While still in college, Lorne worked part time at the newly constructed National Bureau of Standards. He accepted full time employment immediately upon graduation and retired with 50 years of service with the Federal Government in 2008. Through the course of his career, he was involved primarily in ionosphere and radio propagation research and Space Weather observations for the GOES satellite series. After the Bureau of Standards he worked for the Space Environment Laboratory in NOAA. Although always based in Boulder for his entire career, Lorne spent a year at the Eights Station in Antarctica (1963) and a partial year at the Max Plank Institute in Lindau, Germany (1974). His year in the Antarctic resulted in having Mt. Matheson named in his honor. Lorne was also a Lt. Colonel in the Air National Guard where he served for 20 years.

Lorne married Mikki Vaughn Dickson in 1962 and together they built a home and the family that was the center of his life. Lorne and Mikki purchased a house in Table Mesa in 1964 that they both still lived in at the time of his death. In those 60 years, Lorne and Mikki raised three sons: David (Paula) of Glenwood Springs, CO, Mark (Sparrow) of Longmont, CO, and Bruce (Sheena) of Boulder. Also part of their family were many nieces and nephews and 4 foreign exchange students that were welcomed with open arms by Lorne and Mikki.

Through his children's lives, friends, and interests, Lorne became an integral part of Cub Scouts, youth sports, Boy Scouts, and musical bands and performances.

As Lorne's three sons grew and married, the family also grew. Lorne enjoyed seven grandchildren: Lauren (Sean Callahan), Rachel, Ian, Sage, Moira, Angus, and Dougal. His grandchildren were a major component of his life for the past 31 years. Lorne's first great grandchild, Jayce Callahan, was born in Boulder in 2022. Lorne was fortunate that his entire family lived nearby which filled his life with birthdays, soccer games, high school musicals, family dinners, weddings, card games, and frequent celebrations.

Lorne was a kind and unassuming man. His deep desire to learn and his insatiable appetite for reading allowed him to talk to anybody about anything. He had particular interest in the Sun, planets, and astronomy: He traveled to see four Solar eclipses in his life. Other interests were garage sales, penguins and Antarctica, trains (especially steam engines), jigsaw puzzles, stamp and coin collecting, HAM radio, all types of music especially opera, trivia and random knowledge, walking around Viele Lake, eating cereal, lamb, and lemon desserts, and helping with homework or any project. We are grateful for all the special moments we shared with him. Lorne made the world a better place and he will be remembered fondly.

A service and celebration of life will be held at 4 pm on August 1st at Grace Lutheran Church, 1001 13th St., Boulder, CO 80302

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Lorne's name to the Grace Lutheran Foundation, Boulder Parks and Recreation or the Alzheimer's Association.