Jack W. Aeby

Jack W. Aeby of La Mesilla, New Mexico, born August 16, 1923 in Mound City, MO to Henry Hank & Frances Toots {Learn} Aeby, died peacefully at home surrounded by family on Friday, June 19th, 2015. Jack was preceded in death by his parents; brother: Bud [Stella {Wickiser}]; sister: Maureen [Ben] Elliott; brother-in-law: George Pete Petersen; special nieces: Anne {Aeby} Ingram & Margie {Roberts} Aeby.

Chief among those who will miss him are his wife of 63 years: Jeanne {Clemens} of the home; sons: Kim [Frances Wilmeth] Aeby, La Mesilla, Ian [Irina {Shishkova}] Aeby, Albuquerque, Tod [Greta {Smith}] Aeby, Doha, Qatar; daughters: Margaret Meg [Rodney Barnes] Aeby, El Rancho, Beth Aeby, La Mesilla; 6 grandchildren; 5 great-grandchildren; sister: Joan Petersen, Santa Fe; nephew: Chuck [Claudia {Taylor}], Cornville, AZ; 3 great-nieces, distant relatives & many friends considered as family.

Jack came to New Mexico in early 1943 from the University of Nebraska where he was a member of the Pershing Rifles, becoming one of the first civilian employees {#25} on the Manhattan Project. He secured his place in history as the man who, with his own camera & film, took the only color photograph of the worlds 1st atomic bomb detonation at Trinity July 16, 1945. In 1946 he worked as a photographer for Operation Crossroads and Special Representative of the Press for the Mound City News-Independent. Following the war, he graduated from Berkley in 1949, returned to work in Los Alamos & made his home in the Española Valley. He retired from the Health Physics (H-6) department at LANL after 30 years, after witnessing nearly 100 atomic bomb tests. He then began a second career of which he was particularly proud, with Eberline Instruments, dedicated to the clean-up of radioactive sites across the country as well as in the Marshall Islands of the South Pacific.

Among his many world-wide admirers were such notable persons as Nobel laurites Emilio Segrè, Enrico Fermi, Owen Chamberlain, George Farwell, Clyde Wiegand, Seth Neddermeyer & Richard Feynman. His color photo of Trinity, one of the Worlds Ten Most Published photographs {often uncredited} appears in reverse on the cover of Richard Rhodes The Making of the Atomic Bomb, On Forgiveness by Richard Holloway, Los Alamos beginning of an era, Oh Pure and Radiant Heart, A Spy Within, Alistair Cookes America, & LIFE: Our Century in Pictures, featured in many books, newspapers & magazines and the image was the inspiration for Rachel Fermis book Picturing the Bomb.

His passions included photography, philosophy, humor, the environment, astronomy, psychology, Scouting, social justice & peanut butter. Jack was a Lord of Glencoe, Scotland & an extra in the early days of film in New Mexico. He reestablished Boy Scout Troop 22 in Los Alamos during WWII, volunteered his time with the La Mesilla Volunteer Fire Department, Hawaii Whale Count, Habitat for Humanity, Ombudsman, NMCCAW, Senior Net, Española First Offenders, La Mesilla Ditch Mayordomo, LAHDRA, Pueblo Clean Water Initiative, Bishop Museum ~ Honolulu, St. Stephens Episcopal Church, St. Andrews Cathedral & anyone who needed his sage wisdom.

Following cremation, a celebration of life was held at St. Stephens Episcopal Church, Bond Street, Española, NM on Saturday, June 27, 2015.
In accordance with Jacks wishes, please contribute your time, talents & treasure to the New Mexico Citizens for Clean Air & Water: PO Box 5, Los Alamos, NM 87544 in lieu of flowers.


~Beth Aeby {as in "Road" or "Downton"}

This obituary is protected by copyright laws, unauthorized use or duplication is prohibited.