John "Jack" Robert Morton III

John "Jack" Robert Morton III, a former Lab physicist, died Aug. 25. He was 90.

Morton was born to John R. Morton Jr. and Beulah June Sweetman Morton in Palestine, Texas. He spent his childhood in Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. He graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor of science in chemistry.

He worked at the Hanford General Electric plant in Washington where he met and later married Mary Lou. He served two years of Army active duty at Aberdeen Proving Ground and completed an additional 18 years of service in the Army Reserve at the Presidio in San Francisco, retiring with the rank of major.

Subsequent to active duty, he enrolled at University of California Berkeley, earning his Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry. He started work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1958, retiring in 1991. He served in many capacities, ending his career as a project physicist, having worked on many nuclear tests at both the Nevada Test Site and Amchitka, Alaska.

He was predeceased by his wife, Mary Lou Lehr Morton. He was a brother to Charles William Morton (deceased) and Thomas Richard Morton; father to Margaret Ann Morton Bell (Milton) and John William Morton; and grandfather to four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will take place Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. at his daughter's home, 6479 Danika Ct., Paradise. Donations can be made to the American Cancer Society in his name.