John R. Hiskes

John R. Hiskes, formerly of Livermore, died Feb. 19. He was 86.

Hiskes was born in Chicago on May 30, 1928, to John and Alice Hiskes. He was raised in Chicago and following high school he served in the Coast Guard as an electronic technician, attending to lighthouses up and down the west coast. This instilled a deep love for all things California and developed his love for travel and adventure, which began when he read Halliburton's Royal Road to Romance as a Christmas gift given to him by his mother when he was a young boy.

Hiskes married the love of his life Dolores in 1951, and moved to California, where he received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Following receipt of the Ph.D. they moved to Livermore, where he pursued a career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in atomic and molecular physics and magnetic fusion, which involved numerous trips to Europe and the Soviet Union, including a year-long assignment in Abingdon, England, and a memorable summer in Paris at the Ecole Polytecnic. He retired from the Lab in 1991.

Hiskes was his son Grant's scout leader and president of the local branch of the Sierra Club. One winter he recreated the legendary Snowshoe Thompson's solo trek across the Sierras carrying The Nevada Appeal in his backpack, just as Snowshoe carried the mail in the 1860s. He and some friends then formed a ski touring group to make annual midwinter east-west traverses of the Sierra Nevada, and together with friend Ron Korner, founded the "Friends of Snow Creek Lodge," a group that worked successfully to stop the planned demolition of the historic lodge.

Having discovered the fascinations of Yosemite during his college years, Hiskes launched a campaign to climb the high points in the park — a campaign that frequently diverted him into other explorations and excursions. Together with his son he wrote The Discovery of Yosemite 1833 as they explored the wild back country and detailed the route of the walker expedition's trek through the Yosemite region. Copies of this book now reside in the Bancroft Library at U.C. Berkeley and in the California Historical Society's library in San Francisco.

His love for travel was legendary and was a high point of his life. He and his wife took many cruises around the world and had many adventures. He cherished the photo his son-in-law had framed for him showing him in the exact pose as Halliburton in front of the Taj Mahal. During the 1980s he retraced the silk route from China into Russia and once took an all-day train trip to Padua Italy so he could see Galileo's ancient old lectern, which was kept in a locked room. Daughter Robin was born on his birthday and every year they had dinner together, just the two of them, including the year she spent in Bordeaux when they met in Paris.

He loved astronomy and hand-built two telescopes including grinding the lenses that currently reside in his observatory at the family cabin at Truckee. An avid jogger, he and his wife won the costume division of the Bay to Breakers race twice during the 1980s. He ran the Dipsea race 21 times and was presented with a plaque on his 80th birthday, which is permanently embedded in the 80th stair at the beginning of the Dipsea trail.

Hiskes pursued a wide range of interests including travel, cosmology, history, archeology, astronomy and religion. He searched for Fremont's cannon as well as joined in the search for Amelia Earhart. More recently, he and friend Jim Wilson formed the "Livermore Theological Society," a loosely-knit group that hashed out thorny theological questions over dinner. He was also a member of the The No-Name Book Club (NNBC) comprised primarily of fellow employees at LLNL. Recently, he discovered a gift for tutoring and was in much demand as a math tutor for junior-high-school students through the Rotary club.

He was the loving son of John and Alice Hiskes, close brother of Donald Hiskes and sister-in-law Ruth, beloved husband and best friend of Dolores G. Hiskes, devoted father of Robin Hiskes Caproni, John Grant Hiskes, son-in-law Christopher Caproni and he had a special bond with and love for grandchildren Connor Grant Caproni and Austenne Nicole Caproni.

Hiskes and his wife lived in Livermore until moving to The Redwoods retirement home in Mill Valley two years ago.

Family and friends are invited to a celebration of his life on April 11 at 11 a.m. at the Livermore Unitarian-Universalist Church, 1893 North Vasco Road, Livermore. In lieu of flowers, consider donating to: Rotary Club of Livermore, P.O Box 694, Livermore CA 94551, with a notation to "Fund READY tutoring program in memory of John Hiskes."