Wayne Lee Hamilton

Wayne Lee Hamilton was born to Warren F Hamilton and Elaine Hamilton (Hartley) in Kanab, UT on July 2, 1936. The family was living at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park at the time. Wayne grew up as a park service kid while his father advanced his career from stable hand to superintendent being stationed in many of the most amazing parks of our great nation. Wayne's love for nature and scientific studies developed on the journey.
In about 1940, the family relocated to Upstate New York where Wayne's father was appointed Superintendent by Park Service Director, Horace Albright. Wayne spent his time as a young boy exploring and making friends. A small stream gave Wayne an introduction to aquatic insects, crustaceans, and plants. As World War II raged in Europe, the Hamilton's helped by gathering milkweed seedpods which were sent to the navy to make life jackets.
At the end of the war, the family relocated to Tupelo Mississippi where Warren took a position in Nachez Trace National Park. Wayne attended Junior high and participated in band. He competed in a televised talent show playing "dixie" on the accordion. Another contestant in the show was a boy named Elvis Presley (who hadn't achieved fame at that point). Wayne won the contest and was awarded a new washer and dryer set.
The family relocated to Yellowstone National Park in 1949. Wayne attended high school in Gardiner, MT at the north entrance of the park. His father, Warren, became the assistant superintendent for Yellowstone. Wayne worked several summer jobs for the YP company. He was also an avid hiker and mountaineer who made a first ascent of the Petzold route on the Grand Teton. Wayne was active in Boy Scouts and earned his Eagle Scout rank. Wayne's senior year of high school was completed at the Wasatch Academy in Mt Pleasant, UT. His pursuit of music continued in band, and he competed in track and field.
The next phase of Wayne's education was at the Ivy League Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, where he ultimately earned a bachelor's degree in Geology in 1959. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and worked as a radio DJ. During breaks from school, Wayne worked as a smoke jumper in Montana, he and a friend spent one summer in Mexico working in a silver mine, and he worked a variety of jobs in Yellowstone including fire lookout, trail maintenance, seasonal naturalist and one fall as a patrol ranger during hunting season on the park boundary north of Hellroaring Creek. In 1959, he joined other NPS employees in responding to the Hebgen Lake Earthquake. That fall he was ordered to report for US Army Basic Training at Fort Ord in California.
Following Basic, Wayne received orders to report for duty at the Army Corps of Engineers research facility at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He was then assigned to join the Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment and worked in a laboratory in Evanston, Illinois and then on to Greenland and Point Barrow, Alaska. He ended up back in Illinois, which is where he met the love of his life, Margot Becker.Wayne described this in his autobiography
"My friend Murray had a date with a girl in Evanston to go to a movie, and having no car he asked if I would drop him off and later pick him up at the Orrington Hotel.. Well, I showed up a bit early and joined them at their table for a cup of coffee. I learned that she worked for a dentist in one of the suburbs north of Evanston. The girl was so attractive that after dropping her off and while driving back to our military housing I asked Murray if it would be OK if I asked her out. After some humming and hawing he finally said "OK", so the next time I had a chance to use a telephone I started calling dental offices on the north shore. Finally, I found the right one and ended up with her agreeing to meet me somewhere in the next day or so. That was the best job of sleuthing I have ever done."
Following the completion of his military service, Wayne and Margot married about a year later on March 17, 1962. They moved to Florida where Wayne took a research job at the University of Miami. They had their first child, Scott, in 1964 and later that year they moved to Columbus, Ohio where Wayne continued doing his research at Ohio State University. In 1970, they had their second child, John. Wayne received his Doctorate in Geology and continued doing research, which included some foreign travel with his family. Wayne took a position as an assistant professor teaching Geology at Ohio State and then another professor position in Cleveland.
In 1974, Wayne decided he'd had enough of teaching and decided to pursue a career with the National Park Service. He moved his family to Zion National Park, where Wayne worked as a seasonal naturalist and law enforcement ranger. During this time, he produced a geological map of the park and wrote a book that described the geology of Zion. Both were published and the map became a best seller.
In 1978, Wayne was transferred to the Denver Service Center. This position required significant travel to Washington DC and Alaska for earth science and air quality research on mining activities near National Parks.
In 1980, Wayne took a position as a Geologist in Yellowstone National Park. He completed a large variety of research projects and published many papers during his tenure, including significant research on the Yellowstone Caldera. Wayne retired from the Park Service in 1996 and resided in the Gardiner, MT area for several years before returning to Zion, where he spent the rest of his life with Margot.
On September 19, 2024, in the company of Margot, Scott and Lori, John and Jennie, while listening to one of his favorite Bach classical masterpieces, Arioso in G, Wayne peacefully passed. He lived an incredible life, which will be celebrated by family and friends at an event this next year. Wayne is survived by his wife of 62 years, Margot; his sons: Scott (Lori) and John (Jennie); grandchildren: Mindy, Seth, Justin, Jacob, Logan, Alexander, Tighe (TJ); and great grandchildren: Natalie, Madison, Luke, Ezra, Lucille, Lilliana, and Cassius.