Derald Dean Nye

1935 - 2021

NYE, Derald Dean

died due to complications of Parkinson's disease on March 26, 2021 in Tucson, AZ. He was born on March 2, 1935 on a farm in NW Kansas and lived there until he was 13 when his family moved into the town of Oakley, KS. He graduated from Oakley Consolidated High School in 1953, served two years in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957 and graduated from Kansas State University in 1961 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He then worked for IBM corporation from 1961 until his retirement in 1991 including at Cape Kennedy, FL on the Saturn 1B & V rocket instruments, and in Owego, NY, Puerto Rico, Boulder, CO and finally Tucson, AZ. Derald became interested in astronomy in high school and ground his first telescope mirror in 1964. He went on to build a number of telescopes and a 2-story observatory topped by an 18.5' dome in his backyard, named for his inspirational former professors, Kirmser-Wakabayashi. He was married to his first wife, Viva Little for nine years. Later Derald met Denise Blum when they both were traveling in Australia in February 1972 and they married in Boulder, CO on April 9, 1973.

Together Derald and Denise traveled to all of the continents and over 90 countries and island groups, including 28 trips to view total and annular solar eclipses. They were jointly honored when the International Astronomical Union named asteroid number 3685, as DERDENYE for them. In total, Derald went on 42 solar eclipse trips where he often collected data for a long-term solar radius study by the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA). Two eclipse trips included airplanes following the eclipse path to ensure cloudless observation and an extended time in totality.

Derald was exceptionally good at keeping in touch with family and the many friends he made throughout his life. He and Denise were regular attendees of the Gaslight theater and in his last years Derald had lunch nearly daily at Little Anthony's Diner. He was active in a number of astronomical societies including the Astronomical League where he was given the Leslie C. Peltier Award in 2010 for astronomical observations of lasting significance by an amateur astronomer, the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers where he was given the Walter H. Haas Observer's Award in 2017 for excellence in observational solar system astronomy and the IOTA which bestowed on him the David E. Laird Award in 2020 for significant contributions to occultation science.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Denise; his parents, Victor A. Nye and Mildred L. Nye and his brother-in-law, Seth Burt Hodges. He is survived by his sister, Marilyn Hodges of Carmichael, CA; nephews, Jeff Hodges and wife, Wendy Wheaton, Redwood City, CA, Scott Hodges and husband, Douglas Bush, Cambria, CA and Eric Hodges, Mill Valley, CA. His ashes will be interred at the Oakley, KS cemetery and there will be a celebration of life held at a later date. Arrangements by BRING'S BROADWAY CHAPEL.