Dale Kunz

Dale Kunz died at the age of 96 on January 10, 2025. He was born in Hubbard, Oregon in 1928, grew up in Dallas, OR, and spent summers at his grandparent’s Ryan farm in Butteville. He learned to make marionberry pies from his mother, Dorothy, and continued to make them all his life together with his famous enchilada casserole.

He got his B.S. (he loved this acronym) and M.S. in Physics at Oregon State College (now University) in Corvallis. He paid his way washing dishes at the cafeteria and lived at the GDI (God Damned Independents) House with fellow nerds. He developed a passion for climbing and hiking as part of the OSC Mountain Club and kept life-long friends from there.

He got his PhD in Theoretical Nuclear Physics from Washington State University in Seattle, where he joined The Mountaineers and Recreational Equipment Co-op (now REI). He took pride in his four-digit REI member number.

Dale married Ruth Lederer while working at Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica, California. They moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1960 where Dale became a professor at the Department of Physics and where he stayed on as a Professor Emeritus after teaching for 30 years.

His first of two children, Rachel a.k.a. Trevor was born and grew up in North Boulder. Dale walked or biked to his work a mile uphill at C.U. or the C.U. cyclotron program in East Boulder and no rain, sleet or snow deterred him. Later, he married Betty Becker and his second daughter, Rebecca, was born. Betty was mother to both Rachel and Becca. His summers were spent travelling and camping at National Parks in the Western US in the several VW buses they owned.

Dale’s final marriage was to Carol Scott and they lived in Portland, OR from where they embarked on camping trips to Moab, UT and Big Bend, TX. They also enjoyed annual visits to the Philippines, Hawaii, and cruises, which they enjoyed in their retirement years.

In the last year of his life, Dale moved back to Boulder. He enjoyed playing with two cats, Alfred and Daisy, as well as watching science, climbing, and adventure YouTube videos. The “Big Bang Theory” and “Young Sheldon” brought chuckles, as did squirrels courting in the backyard and his son-in-law Jet doing yoga.

Dale is survived by Carol (now 93), Becca, Rachel, Jet, and their children: Justin with Lexi Calhoun, Eric and wife Tess Lukowiak, and Tana. His ashes will be scattered over his favorite places and his atoms and particles will merge into the vastness of the cosmos.