Donald E. Wood

Donald E. Wood of Richland passed away October 26 at the age of 86. He was born on December 26, 1930 in St Paul, Minnesota to Frederick and Frances Wood. He moved to Reno as a toddler and grew up there, graduating from Reno High School. 

He met his wife, Barbara, when they were both attending the University of Nevada Reno. They were married on June 11, 1954 while Don was completing his PhD in Physics at Northwestern University. Soon after the birth of their first son Alan in 1955, they moved to Richland for the first time, where Don worked for GE at Hanford. He was in charge of the shielding for N-reactor, doing both materials selection and design. He was also a member of the State Science Board for 2 years. While at Hanford, his second son Larry was born in 1957.

Don and Barbara moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1962 where Don worked on commercial applications of nuclear physics at Kaman Sciences. He designed neutron accelerators and developed methods to use them for quality control systems of many products (including dog food!). They took up skiing in Colorado, especially at Arapahoe Basin where Alan and Larry were on the ski racing team. They also started scuba diving and took trips to exotic locations such as Truk lagoon and Palau to indulge that hobby. 

In 1977, their third son Eddie was born. They moved back to Richland a year later, where Don worked on nuclear waste isolation and risk assessment for Westinghouse. He was selected to lead a task force studying the hazards of all nuclear facilities in the United States in the early 1990’s.

After retiring in 1996, Don started a consulting firm called Gaia Tech Services, where he continued to apply his knowledge of the location of radioactive waste pools at Hanford and techniques for isolation. He was a long-time Program committee member of the Waste Management (WM) Symposia and once served as its General Chair. He received the WM Symposia Fellow award in 2014 in recognition of his distinguished service. He also volunteered as an AARP taxpreparer and a driver for Meals on Wheels.

Don and Barbara began traveling the world after Don retired. They took month-long trips, visiting exotic places on every continent except Antarctica. Some of their favorite trips were to Machu Picchu, Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China, and Easter Island.

Don also continued playing trumpet after retirement, an avocation that had provided spending money while he was in college. He played for more than 20 years with the Swing Unlimited big band, participating in concerts at many venues around the Tri-Cities. He enjoyed going to adult jazz camps around the country. He also played in the Columbia Basin College concert band. He and Barbara supported the CBC music program by establishing a scholarship for CBC students and by being the lead donors for a Steinway Grand Piano that helped attract well-known music artists to Richland.

Don and Barbara greatly enjoyed family vacations with their sons, spouses, and grandchildren – for their 40th anniversary in St. Thomas, for their 50th anniversary in Sun River, and for their 60th anniversary on a cruise to Alaska, along with Christmas vacations in Mexico, Hawaii, and St. Lucia, and a cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona last year.

Don is survived by his wife Barbara, sons Alan (Kilbee), Larry (Marie), and Ed (Desi),and 6 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother Fred.

A celebration of his life will be held on Thursday, November 2, for 2-5 PM at Einan’s at Sunset. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the CBC Susan F. Hendrickson Scholarship Fund or Kadlec Auxiliary.