Francis Reginald Redfern III

REDFERN III, Francis Reginald Francis Reginald Redfern III, died suddenly at his home in Austin, Texas on September 30, 2020. Francis was one of a kind, funny, intelligent, highly educated, well traveled, a man of many interests. Francis was born in Edgewood, Texas July 18, 1944 to Francis and Dana Beth Redfern. He spent his youth in Dallas, Edgewood, and Denver in the U.S., and overseas in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and Lahore, (West) Pakistan. He served our country as a Conscientious Objector. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Texas at Dallas, to go with degrees in mathematics from East Texas State University and geology from the University of Washington. During his career he worked at the Bureau of Mines in Denver and on the development of the International Space Station at NASA in Houston. He taught physics, mathematics, engineering, computer science, astronomy, and geology for many years at Texarkana College. Francis' interests ranged from physics, geology and astronomy to biking, hiking, backpacking, and home repair and improvement projects. He loved taking extended hikes and backpacking trips to Big Bend National Park, resulting in a well researched, scholarly yet entertaining virtual field geology blog (prism-redfern.org). He wrote several published papers on physics topics and at the time of his passing was working on an introductory textbook on physics. Francis is survived by his much-loved family: wife, Nora Danielson Redfern; son Jesse Roland Redfern; daughter Clancy McCabe Redfern; brothers Randy and Rick; and many nieces and nephews; and all his beloved four-legged family members. To support Big Bend Conservancy in Francis' memory, please visit bigbendfriends.org.