Guy T. Emery ’53 died on September 14, 2023, in Hanover, New Hampshire.
(The following was provided by the Times Record on September 21, 2023:)
Guy Trask Emery, 92, of Brunswick, Maine and Hanover, NH, passed peacefully on Thursday, Sept. 14. Born May 22, 1931, in Manchester, N.H., Guy was the second child of Henry A. and Ruth T. Emery. His brother Henry “Hank” A. Emery was five years older.
Guy spent his early childhood in Colebrook, N.H., before moving to South Paris, Maine, where in winter he skied down the frozen Little Androscoggin River to get to school. In 1945, he entered Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine, graduating as valedictorian in 1949. It was there that Guy met his beloved wife, Marilyn Judkins (Gould valedictorian of 1950). He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1953. Guy and Marilyn married in 1955 and lived in Cambridge, Mass. A year later, they welcomed their first daughter, Karen Lee. A second daughter, Kimberly Lynn, was born in 1964.
Guy earned his Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics from Harvard and began a post doc at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, while also teaching at SUNY Stony Brook. He accepted a position at Indiana University in 1966, where he taught physics for over two decades. The opportunity to be chairman of the physics department at Bowdoin College brought Guy and Marilyn to Brunswick in 1988. They designed their own house, where Guy resided until this past fall, when he relocated to Hanover, N.H.
Guy and Marilyn enjoyed traveling in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. They would often spend the holidays in Connecticut with their daughter, Karen, her husband, Tom, and their four children. They also enjoyed taking leisurely drives down the coast to Gainesville, Fla. to enjoy warmer weather with Kim and her wife, Kathryn. Guy retired from Bowdoin in 1999 but continued to write and consult.
Marilyn passed away in 2003, after 48 years of loving marriage. Over the next 20 years, Guy would continue to exercise his brilliant mind, attending scientific conferences and researching the history of physics. In summers, he enjoyed attending the Show Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario. He was a man of many interests, as anyone looking over his large library would see. He could often be found sitting in his sunroom completing the Times Sunday crossword in pen, or by the TV catching a Red Sox game. He loved music and was a fine pianist. He also enjoyed local theater. Ruth Peck, of Brunswick, brought great joy and companionship to Guy until her death this past June. Over the past five years, “Dada,” as Guy was affectionately known to his grandchildren, became a great-grandfather to four little ones.
He is survived by daughter Karen and her husband, Tom Young, of Wardsboro, Vt.; Kim Emery and her wife, Kathryn Baker, of Gainesville, Fla.; his grandchildren, Meredith and husband Eric, Amanda and husband Aziz, Jeffrey, and Vanessa; and four great-grandchildren, Natalie, Colette, Owen, and Lucas. He also leaves behind a niece, Ptarmigan Emery, and nephews, Trask Emery and Timothy Emery, all of Colorado, and nieces Joan Bickford and Susan Longfellow, both of Wiscasset, Maine.
As a entering graduate student in physics at Indiana University, I was honored to meet Guy during my pre-enrollment visit. Since I had come out of a rather ordinary small liberal arts college, I was considerably apprehensive about pursuing physics graduate study in a major research university. Guy immediately went to work building my self-confidence. While not “his” graduate student, early on Guy took me under his wing and encouraged me at all milestones in getting my Ph.D. I especially valued an in-depth course in atomic spectroscopy taught by Guy. Over much of my career, I enjoyed valued, but too infrequent, email chats with Guy. To me he embodied what a true scientist, and human being should be. He wil surely be greatly missed.
I was just sitting here going thru my old files to get rid of things I don’t need anymore and I came across a wonderful letter of recommendation Dr Guy Emery wrote for me like 25 years ago right after I worked for him as a lab instructor in Physics at Bowdoin. I thought let me Google him to find his email to say hi and thank him once again for all the kindness he showed me when I worked for him and after I left there for all glowing recommendations…. he ajeays happy to do for thats who he was… simeone only wanting to help make simes kife ket slone day better.
I’m sad to have found he passed and that I don’t get to tell him again, since the last time over 20 years ago, thank you for all you did for me. I’m retired now but in all my years in school and then working in engineering and physics, Guy was by far the most decent human to work for or with and I truly loved him as a boss and a human.
I met his wife once when he invited me to lunch with them and she took was as beautiful person as he, so if she reads this, my heartfelt condolences to her. I’m sad that someone as decent and kind as him is not blessing the world but he made a lot of people’s world better as he did mine when I worked at Bowdoin Physics.
Life got busy and we kost touch, but deep down altho I didn’t realize it til this moment I have really missed him every moment since… I feel lucky, blessed, to have gotten to know and work for such a great man who was also a good man… the best of us all. Love, Sue McGinnis
I was just sitting here going thru my old files to get rid of things I don’t need anymore and I came across a wonderful letter of recommendation Dr Guy Emery wrote for me over 25 years ago when I worked for him as a lab instructor in Physics at Bowdoin. I thought let me Google him to find his email to say hi and thank him once again for all the kindness he showed me when I worked for him and after I left there for all glowing recommendations…. he was always happy to do for that’s who he was… someone only wanting to help make someone’s life let alone day better… as he did mine.
I’m sad to have found he passed and that I don’t get to tell him again, since the last time over 20 years ago, thank you for all you did for me. I’m retired now but in all my years in school and then working in engineering and physics, Guy was by far the most decent human to work for or with and I truly loved him as a boss and a human.
I met his wife once when he invited me to lunch with them and she too was as beautiful person as he was, so if she reads this, my heartfelt condolences to her. I’m sad that someone as decent and kind as him is not blessing the world but fortunately for so many of us he made a lot of people’s world better as he did mine when I worked at Bowdoin Physics.
Life got busy and we lost touch, but deep down altho I didn’t realize it til this moment I have really missed him every moment since… I feel lucky, blessed, to have gotten to know and work for such a great man who was also a good man… the best of us all. Love, Sue McGinnis