Jack S. Steller

Jack S. Steller died July 27 at his home in Berkeley. He was 88.

Born Sept. 2, 1921, near Chicago, his family later moved to Pasadena, Calif., arriving during the great crash of 1929. Though his family felt the strain of the depression, he was able to focus upon his education at Elliot School and Pasadena Junior College.

He then attended Pomona College, graduating in 1943 with a degree in physics. During his time at Pomona, he served as a chemistry lab instructor, where he met Sally Ellis, whom he married in May of 1943.

Steller spent a short period of time teaching physics to meteorologists at Pomona before moving to Washington D.C, where he developed submarine detection equipment at the Naval Research Lab. He then returned to Pasadena as an instrumentation designer at JPL before pursuing graduate studies at UC Berkeley and studying neutral mesons at the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory.

He possessed a remarkable curiosity and ability to acquire and retain information, as well as an affinity for synthesizing that information into considered opinions. He was always eager to discuss or debate these opinions.

In 1952, he joined Dick Post’s controlled fusion group at LLNL and spent the next two decades there and in the nuclear explosives design group at the Lab. He contributed to a number of projects, including Flamingo, Pilot, Plowshare, Platte and Wren. In the 70s, he shifted his focus to studying scenarios for proliferation of nuclear weapons and possibilities for tracking and controlling them.

He became involved in the Boy Scouts of America along with his three sons, becoming the district commissioner for the Mt. Diablo Council.

He retired from the Lab in 1980, at which time he developed a routine of world travel and study which he maintained until the year prior to his death.

In 1988, Steller moved back to Berkeley where he studied economics and biochemistry. He was a member of the UC Center for Learning in Retirement in San Francisco, and led science related discussions there for three decades. He also was a member of the Outlook Club in Berkeley, where he discoursed upon topics prompted by his regular world travels, and his interest in science, politics and nuclear proliferation.

He is survived by three sons, Ed, Tom and Rob, and by his companion, Ingrid Radkey. A memorial service will take place Sunday, Sept. 19, at 3 p.m. at the Unitarian Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington, Calif.