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Smith -- Louis C. (Lou) Smith, 80, of Irvine, CA, died January 3, 1999 in Santa Ana, CA. Lou worked at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for 30 years and was Group Leader of GMX-2 from 1949 to 1974. He was an internationally recognized authority on the sensitivity of energetic materials and also on the approaches to safety that are now used with all kinds of energetic materials, nuclear weapons, and large, solid-fuel rockets. Lou never tired of learning or of teaching. He taught all who worked for him facts and methods of thinking, problem solving skills and how to set priorities. With his children he stressed the importance of not just finding the answer, but understanding how it was derived. At the time of his death he was reading Feynman's volumes on physics"just for fun." Mr. Smith is survived by his wife of 57 years, Mildred (Millie) Smith of Irvine, CA; two children, Allyson Schafer of Ft. Collins, CO and Louis C. Smith III of Keenesburg, CO; and three grandchildren. Memorial contributions in Lou's memory may be made to Chemistry Research Fund, Univ. of Rochester Gift Office, Box 270032, Rochester, NY 14627.
        Published on: Sat January 23, 1999