Our Dad was born April 18th, 1924 in Randalia, Iowa to Elgia and Lysle Wooldridge. He spent most of his formative years in near-by Fayette, Iowa, along with his older siblings, Ilene and Bob. He passed from this life February 13, 2015 in Fort Collins, surrounded by his family.
Gene is survived by his wife, Virginia; sons Loel (Jan), Jeffrey (Sue), Kevin (Sandy); daughter Lisa Eakins (Tom); Loel and Jan’s son Gabriel; Jeffrey and Sue’s son Brian, daughter Christy; Lisa and Tom’s daughters Jennifer Markotay (Adam), Heather Walker (Steven); and numerous great-grandchildren. Gene’s son Dana; Jeffrey and Sue’s son Russell; and Kevin’s daughter Amanda; preceded him in death.
Dad excelled at school from an early age, graduating from high school at 16, and starting college in his hometown Upper Iowa University. When the call went out from the Army Air Corps for exceptional students in the physical sciences, his instructors recommended him for the Corps’ program to train weather forecasters. After the war, Dad continued in the Air Force Reserve, serving as recruitment liaison for the Air Force Academy.
The Air Corps experience sparked a life-long passion for the study of air flows, and ultimately led to a specialization in air flows over complex terrains; i.e., mountains and valleys. In the course of his ongoing research, and its applications to problems related to pollutants in the atmosphere and remote locations, Dad developed new tools for gathering data. As a PhD student at Colorado State University, he helped develop improvements in data-collecting models for NASA satellite systems. During his teaching years at CSU and Utah State University, he developed improvements in weather balloons, including the design for the constant-level mylar balloon, for collecting data over complex terrains.
As head of the Department of Meteorology at Utah State University, Dad collaborated with scientists in his field at the University in Lausanne, Switzerland; as well as colleagues in the related fields of Forestry and Clean Air Technologies. In the 13 years of his tenure at USU, he mentored some 40 doctoral students from around the world, including them in his field studies in the US and Abroad, and bringing them into his home to make them feel at ease far from their own homes. Many of them remained in touch throughout their careers, and visited him frequently, even after he retired.
The Wooldridge family enjoyed a tradition of gathering around the dinner table every evening, as a way of staying in touch with each other and challenging each other to keep track of the many threads of cross-conversation. Dad’s students sometimes joined us, and often commented on the entertaining, and somewhat intimidating, whirl of activity surrounding the family table; not to mention, the delicious home-cooked meal! The family meals extended into the mountainous terrains Dad so loved, to picnics and fly-fishing, and occasional cross-country skiing outings, with the occasional hilarious snowy pile-up. Those events were often chronicled with photographs, inevitably intermingled with copious shots of clouds. We will always remember those days, as well as the many family gatherings here in Fort Collins, and grieve the absence of our Dad at the family table.
From family via Allnutt Funeral
Gene is survived by his wife, Virginia; sons Loel (Jan), Jeffrey (Sue), Kevin (Sandy); daughter Lisa Eakins (Tom); Loel and Jan’s son Gabriel; Jeffrey and Sue’s son Brian, daughter Christy; Lisa and Tom’s daughters Jennifer Markotay (Adam), Heather Walker (Steven); and numerous great-grandchildren. Gene’s son Dana; Jeffrey and Sue’s son Russell; and Kevin’s daughter Amanda; preceded him in death.
Dad excelled at school from an early age, graduating from high school at 16, and starting college in his hometown Upper Iowa University. When the call went out from the Army Air Corps for exceptional students in the physical sciences, his instructors recommended him for the Corps’ program to train weather forecasters. After the war, Dad continued in the Air Force Reserve, serving as recruitment liaison for the Air Force Academy.
The Air Corps experience sparked a life-long passion for the study of air flows, and ultimately led to a specialization in air flows over complex terrains; i.e., mountains and valleys. In the course of his ongoing research, and its applications to problems related to pollutants in the atmosphere and remote locations, Dad developed new tools for gathering data. As a PhD student at Colorado State University, he helped develop improvements in data-collecting models for NASA satellite systems. During his teaching years at CSU and Utah State University, he developed improvements in weather balloons, including the design for the constant-level mylar balloon, for collecting data over complex terrains.
As head of the Department of Meteorology at Utah State University, Dad collaborated with scientists in his field at the University in Lausanne, Switzerland; as well as colleagues in the related fields of Forestry and Clean Air Technologies. In the 13 years of his tenure at USU, he mentored some 40 doctoral students from around the world, including them in his field studies in the US and Abroad, and bringing them into his home to make them feel at ease far from their own homes. Many of them remained in touch throughout their careers, and visited him frequently, even after he retired.
The Wooldridge family enjoyed a tradition of gathering around the dinner table every evening, as a way of staying in touch with each other and challenging each other to keep track of the many threads of cross-conversation. Dad’s students sometimes joined us, and often commented on the entertaining, and somewhat intimidating, whirl of activity surrounding the family table; not to mention, the delicious home-cooked meal! The family meals extended into the mountainous terrains Dad so loved, to picnics and fly-fishing, and occasional cross-country skiing outings, with the occasional hilarious snowy pile-up. Those events were often chronicled with photographs, inevitably intermingled with copious shots of clouds. We will always remember those days, as well as the many family gatherings here in Fort Collins, and grieve the absence of our Dad at the family table.
From family via Allnutt Funeral
Our Dad was born April 18th, 1924 in Randalia, Iowa to Elgia and Lysle Wooldridge. He spent most of his formative years in near-by Fayette, Iowa, along with his older siblings, Ilene and Bob. He passed from this life February 13, 2015 in Fort Collins, surrounded by his family.
Gene is survived by his wife, Virginia; sons Loel (Jan), Jeffrey (Sue), Kevin (Sandy); daughter Lisa Eakins (Tom); Loel and Jan’s son Gabriel; Jeffrey and Sue’s son Brian, daughter Christy; Lisa and Tom’s daughters Jennifer Markotay (Adam), Heather Walker (Steven); and numerous great-grandchildren. Gene’s son Dana; Jeffrey and Sue’s son Russell; and Kevin’s daughter Amanda; preceded him in death.
Dad excelled at school from an early age, graduating from high school at 16, and starting college in his hometown Upper Iowa University. When the call went out from the Army Air Corps for exceptional students in the physical sciences, his instructors recommended him for the Corps’ program to train weather forecasters. After the war, Dad continued in the Air Force Reserve, serving as recruitment liaison for the Air Force Academy.
The Air Corps experience sparked a life-long passion for the study of air flows, and ultimately led to a specialization in air flows over complex terrains; i.e., mountains and valleys. In the course of his ongoing research, and its applications to problems related to pollutants in the atmosphere and remote locations, Dad developed new tools for gathering data. As a PhD student at Colorado State University, he helped develop improvements in data-collecting models for NASA satellite systems. During his teaching years at CSU and Utah State University, he developed improvements in weather balloons, including the design for the constant-level mylar balloon, for collecting data over complex terrains.
As head of the Department of Meteorology at Utah State University, Dad collaborated with scientists in his field at the University in Lausanne, Switzerland; as well as colleagues in the related fields of Forestry and Clean Air Technologies. In the 13 years of his tenure at USU, he mentored some 40 doctoral students from around the world, including them in his field studies in the US and Abroad, and bringing them into his home to make them feel at ease far from their own homes. Many of them remained in touch throughout their careers, and visited him frequently, even after he retired.
The Wooldridge family enjoyed a tradition of gathering around the dinner table every evening, as a way of staying in touch with each other and challenging each other to keep track of the many threads of cross-conversation. Dad’s students sometimes joined us, and often commented on the entertaining, and somewhat intimidating, whirl of activity surrounding the family table; not to mention, the delicious home-cooked meal! The family meals extended into the mountainous terrains Dad so loved, to picnics and fly-fishing, and occasional cross-country skiing outings, with the occasional hilarious snowy pile-up. Those events were often chronicled with photographs, inevitably intermingled with copious shots of clouds. We will always remember those days, as well as the many family gatherings here in Fort Collins, and grieve the absence of our Dad at the family table.
From family via Allnutt Funeral
Gene is survived by his wife, Virginia; sons Loel (Jan), Jeffrey (Sue), Kevin (Sandy); daughter Lisa Eakins (Tom); Loel and Jan’s son Gabriel; Jeffrey and Sue’s son Brian, daughter Christy; Lisa and Tom’s daughters Jennifer Markotay (Adam), Heather Walker (Steven); and numerous great-grandchildren. Gene’s son Dana; Jeffrey and Sue’s son Russell; and Kevin’s daughter Amanda; preceded him in death.
Dad excelled at school from an early age, graduating from high school at 16, and starting college in his hometown Upper Iowa University. When the call went out from the Army Air Corps for exceptional students in the physical sciences, his instructors recommended him for the Corps’ program to train weather forecasters. After the war, Dad continued in the Air Force Reserve, serving as recruitment liaison for the Air Force Academy.
The Air Corps experience sparked a life-long passion for the study of air flows, and ultimately led to a specialization in air flows over complex terrains; i.e., mountains and valleys. In the course of his ongoing research, and its applications to problems related to pollutants in the atmosphere and remote locations, Dad developed new tools for gathering data. As a PhD student at Colorado State University, he helped develop improvements in data-collecting models for NASA satellite systems. During his teaching years at CSU and Utah State University, he developed improvements in weather balloons, including the design for the constant-level mylar balloon, for collecting data over complex terrains.
As head of the Department of Meteorology at Utah State University, Dad collaborated with scientists in his field at the University in Lausanne, Switzerland; as well as colleagues in the related fields of Forestry and Clean Air Technologies. In the 13 years of his tenure at USU, he mentored some 40 doctoral students from around the world, including them in his field studies in the US and Abroad, and bringing them into his home to make them feel at ease far from their own homes. Many of them remained in touch throughout their careers, and visited him frequently, even after he retired.
The Wooldridge family enjoyed a tradition of gathering around the dinner table every evening, as a way of staying in touch with each other and challenging each other to keep track of the many threads of cross-conversation. Dad’s students sometimes joined us, and often commented on the entertaining, and somewhat intimidating, whirl of activity surrounding the family table; not to mention, the delicious home-cooked meal! The family meals extended into the mountainous terrains Dad so loved, to picnics and fly-fishing, and occasional cross-country skiing outings, with the occasional hilarious snowy pile-up. Those events were often chronicled with photographs, inevitably intermingled with copious shots of clouds. We will always remember those days, as well as the many family gatherings here in Fort Collins, and grieve the absence of our Dad at the family table.
From family via Allnutt Funeral
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