Thomas Springer

Thomas Springer passed away on February 15, 2020 after a short illness.  He was born in Fairmont, West Virginia on May 5, 1933, the son of Thomas Edgar Springer and Louise Showalter Springer.  He was 86.

He is survived by his wife Cynthia (Jones), of Los Alamos, his brother Hugh Springer (Candy) of Roanoke, Virginia, his children Kendall Springer (Melanie Mitchell) of Portland, Oregon, Paul Springer (Carol Bloodworth) of Livermore, California, Marie Walczak (Mark) of Parma, Ohio, and Lydia Springer (Patrick) of Uppsala, Sweden, ten grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. 

Tom came to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1957, after attending Andover, the College of Wooster (Phi Beta Kappa) and Yale University, where he earned his doctorate in nuclear physics.  He was always passionate about physics, and he worked at the Lab for more than five decades.  He did some of the fundamental work on fuel cell technology, and his work has been cited over 10,000 times by his colleagues. 

He was active in the community, serving for many years both as a volunteer ham radio operator for the local Search and Rescue,  and also on a task force to bring public transportation to Los Alamos.

Tom was also a great outdoorsman, who loved kayaking, skiing, biking, and hiking in the beautiful country of northern New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.  This was a gift that he shared with his family, and their time outdoors creates some of their most powerful memories of him. 

He was a beloved husband, father, and grandfather and was widely known not only for his intellect, but for his patience, kindness and generosity of spirit.  He will be greatly missed. 

A memorial service will be held at a later time.  The family requests donations be made to the American Lung Association and COPD Foundation.