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Marvin H. Wilkening, born March 13, 1918, passed away on September 24, 2006 at the Socorro Good Samaritan Village, which he in helped establish. Born on the family farm near Oak Ridge, MO, Marvin grew up with an appreciation of the outdoor life and an interest in nature which sustained him throughout his life. Marvin was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Ruby. He is survived by daughter, Laurel and her husband, Godfrey Sill of Tucson, AZ; son, Wesley and his wife, Mary of Albuquerque; granddaughter, Whitney of Albuquerque; sister Verna Lang, of Arvada, CO; and brother, Walter Wilkening of Columbia, MO. After graduating from Southeast Missouri University in 1939 Marvin taught high school science and mathematics in Jackson, MO, until moving to Chicago to pursue graduate work in physics. In 1942 he married Ruby Barks, a teacher at Jackson High School. He served his country as a physicist with the Manhattan Project during WWII starting with the Fermi group at the University of Chicago where he recorded the neutron flux indicating the first self-sustained chain reaction in the first nuclear reactor. He and Ruby moved with the project to Oak Ridge, TN, then to Hanford, WA, and finally to Los Alamos, NM. He was monitoring neutrons on site during the first explosion of the atomic bomb at the White Sands Missile Range 35 miles southeast of Socorro, NM. After the war he returned to Chicago to complete his Ph.D. in physics at Illinois Institute of Technology. He happily accepted a position as a Associate Professor at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in 1948 and so moved to Socorro, NM for the remainder of his life. He enjoyed his career as an atmospheric physicist and professor working with the distinguished group of colleagues and students at NM Tech. His research work using naturally-occurring radon to trace the movements of air over mountains and islands and in caves and mines took him from New Mexico to Alaska and Hawaii and India a and Spain. His techniques were useful in the study of thunder storms which led to his role in the establishment of NM Tech's Langmuir Laboratory in the Magdalena Mountains. Marvin was a "people person" with a heart-warming smile for everyone. There was a special place in his heart for his students and research associates and the many international students he advised and nurtured as Dean of Graduate Studies at NM Tech. He and Ruby entertained research scientist and students from Socorro and the world at large in their home in Socorro and the log cabin they built in the Gila National Forest. The cabin was also the place where many young folks were introduced to New Mexico's high country in fishing, hunting, and hiking trips. Marvin enjoyed the beauty of the mountains and the creatures therein; the forest recharged him and reconnected him with the days of his youth in the woods of southeastern Missouri. A Memorial Service will be held at St. Paul's Methodist Church in Socorro at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, September 30, 2006. Gifts in his memory may be made to St. Paul's Methodist Church of Socorro or to the Marvin H. Wilkening Endowed Faculty Fund at New Mexico Tech. Daniels Family Funeral Services - Northeast Heights 7601 Wyoming Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM 87109 (505) 821-0010
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