Victor Ransom

1932 - 2025

Beloved husband, father, and friend, Victor Harvey Ransom passed away on June 27, 2025, surrounded by family. Victor, of Idaho Falls, Idaho and West Lafayette, Indiana, was born on March 23, 1932, in King Hill, Idaho, to Harvey Edgar Ransom and Edna Honess Ransom. He passed away due to heart failure, secondary to metastatic prostate cancer. Remarkably, Victor enjoyed excellent health until the last few months of his life.

A Celebration of Life is tentatively planned for Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Idaho. Please check with Rose-Davis Funeral Home or family members for details as they become available.

Victor was known for his kindness, dedication, and hard work. He deeply valued family and community, often lending his tools and engineering expertise to help neighbors. He enjoyed sharing meals with loved ones and made homemade ice cream on special occasions-always taking time to explain the thermodynamics behind freezing. He had a tender heart for animals and often told the story of raising Grey Tail, a pigeon he cared for from the time it was a tiny squab.

Victor's ancestry traced back to German immigrants who settled over generations in Pennsylvania, Kansas, and eventually Idaho. Born during the Great Depression, he was raised in Aberdeen, Idaho, where his father worked as a potato inspector and his mother taught fifth grade for 35 years. A brilliant and curious child, Victor designed homemade rockets and fuel from scratch, earning the Outstanding Science Student of the Year Medal at his graduation from Aberdeen High School in 1950.

In his teenage years, Victor and friends famously restored an old Model A Ford and took a memorable road trip through Utah and California. Mistaken for runaways, they were briefly detained by police, who released them after confirming the boys had parental permission and enough money to return home.

Victor graduated from Aberdeen High School in 1950 and earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Idaho in 1954. He later earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University (1966-1970).

Victor began his career at North American Aviation, later Rocketdyne, in 1955, contributing to the Saturn V rockets. From 1959 to 1966, he worked for Aerojet in Sacramento on the Titan rocket engines. He later moved to Idaho Falls and worked at Aerojet (1972-1976) and EG&G (1976-1990), both operating the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). There, with lifelong friend John Trapp, he developed the first well-posed equations for two-phase flow, wrote the RELAP5 PILOT code, and provided foundational leadership in nuclear safety analysis. For this work, he was named INEL's first Science and Engineering Fellow in 1980.

RELAP5 remains the most widely used safety code for nuclear power plant analysis worldwide-a lasting legacy of Victor's genius.

In 1990, Victor became Head of the School of Nuclear Engineering at Purdue University, where he served until retiring as Professor Emeritus in 2001. He was appointed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards from 2001-2005 and consulted globally, including in Japan, Korea, Russia, France, Germany, and Argentina. He once landed in Russia on the same day the Berlin Wall fell. Even in his 80s, SpaceX reached out to request permission to use his thesis code.

Victor also had a passion for adventure. He rode his Heritage Classic Harley-Davidson with the Harley Owners Group (HOG) in Lafayette, IN, proudly earning the "Loudest Exhaust" award at a rally. He loved national parks, downhill skiing, and RV road trips. A highlight of his later life was flying in his favorite airplane, the P-51 Mustang, in the early 2000s.

Victor met Delrie through mutual friends in Idaho Falls, and they were married on July 6, 1974. Together, they restored an old farmhouse on South Holmes Road and reroofed their red barn-later turned into an event venue by the new owners (Curtis and Kris Smith). Victor and Delrie joyfully celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in that same barn in July 2024, under a weathervane Victor had crafted in the shape of an "R" for Ransom.

Victor is survived by his wife, Delrie Ransom, and children: JoEllen Ransom, Vickie McDonough (Tim), Jessica Ratia Ransom (Eduardo Ratia), Natasha Ransom (Scott Grell), and Darin Ransom.

Also surviving him are: Lynda Tomlinson (Mel), Amber Travis (Matt), Jewel, Scarlett, and Stone Travis; Sandra Kirkpatrick (Veryl), Duran Adams, and Rae Lynn Perkins; Rick and Corinne Gavalya.

Grandchildren: Clair Anderson Davy (Jack), Jed Anderson (Sarah), Nikoletta, Maria, and Kosta Antonakis, Adrea Sosville, Jason McDonough, William Ransom, Tiffany Witter, Chardonnay Ransom, Stryker, Rayder, and Slayter Ratia-Ransom, and Griffin Grell.

Great-grandchildren: Katelynn Davy, Isla and Owen Anderson, Daison and Adalyn Sosville, Theo Ransom, Sofia Gamez, and Audrey Antonakis.

Victor was preceded in death by his parents, Harvey Edgar and Edna Ransom; sisters Berniece Stone and Mary Ann Ervin; Mary Ann Pierce (mother of JoEllen, Vickie, and Darin), and grandson Michael Ransom.

The family expresses heartfelt thanks to Lynda and Mel Tomlinson for their generous support, to their neighbors in Indiana-Dr. Jim and Janice Lehnert, and Bob Zhang and family. Gratitude also to Dr. De Bruyn Kops, Dr. Adams, Nurse Holly, and the team at Teton Cancer Institute; Mr. Kuntz and his wound care team; Ben Eaton; and especially to Hannah Jensen and Anna Eager, for the dignity and care shown as personal care assistants.

Deep thanks to Mission Hospice and Lincoln Court for their care during Victor's final weeks.

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