James E. Faulkner

James Earl Faulkner of Livermore died Aug. 5. He was 90.

Faulkner was born and educated through secondary school in Michigan and was awarded a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1956. He worked for a number of institutes and companies throughout the United States and Europe, including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Garching, Germany. His areas of expertise were electromagnetics, magnetic fusion and computational physics.

Faulkner was a long-time resident of Pleasanton and Livermore. He was a member of the parish of St. Claire’s Episcopal Church in Pleasanton and was a practicing Episcopalian through most of his life. The philosophy and fellowship of the church were integral parts of his existence.

He was an ardent and accomplished chess player and relished games with friends well into the last year of his life. Following his retirement in 1991 he and his wife, Kathleen, enjoyed golf and bowling and traveled extensively throughout the world.

Faulkner, who had been residing in an assisted living apartment at Heritage Estates in Livermore, had grown fond of a number of the staff and, following a brief hospitalization in early July, requested to return to his “home” at Heritage with Hospice care. Nurses from Hope Hospice and his step-daughter, Maureen, were with him at the time of his death.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Paul M. Faulkner and Mary Aline Faulkner of Solana Beach, California; his wife Donna Joyce Faulkner (1953 to 1978) and his wife Kathleen Mackay Faulkner (1980 to 2005). He had no siblings.

Faulkner is survived by his daughter, Gloria Faulkner Fields of Allentown, Pennsylvania; granddaughter, Caroline Fields of Carlisle, Pennsylvania; step-daughter, Maureen Mackay Taylor of Pleasanton; granddaughter, Heather Taylor Kerr of Livermore and four great grandchildren, Ella and Iris Farmer of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and Patrick and Madison Kerr of Livermore.

Funeral services will be held at Callaghan Mortuary when arrangements are finalized and a date set. Friends will be notified of date and time of the service.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations in his honor to the Salvation Army.