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Lewis C. 'Doc' Emerson Oak Ridge, TN QCWA # 13775 Chapter 60 |
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Lewis C. 'Doc' Emerson, a resident of Canterfield of Oak Ridge, passed away Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, at the Methodist Medical Center. He was born July 16, 1925 in Columbia, S.C., the son of Marion Sanders and Lewis Azro Emerson.
Doc attended The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., where as a freshman he was awarded the coveted Star of the West for the best drilled cadet. Realizing military service was inevitable, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served with the 397th Regimental Infantry Combat Team of the 100th Infantry Division during World War II in the USA, France, and Germany from 1943 until 1946.
Following military service, Doc entered Georgia Tech and was married during his senior year to Jane White. Upon graduating with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1949, he received a Fellowship in Radiological Physics at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from the National Research Council. He attended the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology and the University of Tennessee, receiving a Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics in 1964.
Doc's physics career spanned 50 years and included duties at the Nevada Nuclear Weapons Test Site, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in New Jersey, teaching graduate physics courses at Vanderbilt and UT, and as a lecturer for the World Health Organization in Europe and Asia. After retiring from ORNL he volunteered at Roane State Community College, teaching Astronomy and Cosmology.
Doc was a long-time Boy Scout leader, active in the Oak Ridge Gymnastics Club, an amateur astronomer, and an avid ham radio operator for over 60 years. He also served in various positions for the 100th Infantry Division Veterans Association. Doc loved reading and traveling the world with Jane until her death in 2007.
He is survived by sons, John Emerson and wife Joyce of Clarksburg, W.Va., and David Emerson and wife Linda of Oak Ridge; daughter Anne Stetina and husband Dale of Boulder, Colo.; grandchildren, Marion Emerson, Hunter Emerson, Peter Stetina and wife Dyanna, Claire Stetina, and Kate Stetina; and by special friend Irma Brown of Oak Ridge.
A memorial service will be held at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Oak Ridge on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 3 p.m. Interment in the church's memorial garden will immediately follow the memorial service, with military honors provided by the Tennessee National Guard Honor Guard. Please join the family afterward for a reception at the church.
The family asks that any memorials be in the form of donations to: St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 212 N. Tulane Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830 or the 100th Infantry Division Burress Scholarship Fund, c/o VMI Foundation, PO Box 932, Lexington, VA 24450-9983