R.I.P., Ronald Seefred

[Rich Feldman]

Today's local newspaper brought me the sad news that Ronald Seefred has died.

seefred-ronald.png (99.67 KiB) Viewed 2102 times

I knew Ron as a fellow "regular" at the electronics flea market. He'd been enjoying retirement after 40 years at SLAC, where he was a radiation safety expert and had authored papers about detectors. One of the last times we'd met, he told me about a recent consultation where he'd helped someone test a neutron detector using smoke detector parts and beryllium. Last month I found his business card & was about to email him about my own progress in that department.

Unfortunately but not unexpectedly, it made the front page with a headline that didn't mention his name.

https://padailypost.com/2019/05/02/low- ... scientist/
Family members cleaning out the house found stuff like we would find in Richard Hull's shed. Called Public Safety; next thing you know, a city park and youth center are closed because of it. As if he'd kept a crate full of hand grenades, or a 500 pound bomb. On the bright side, the reporter wrote a lot about Ron's life and career; nothing negative at all.

Radioactivity collectors might consider leaving a few copies of a letter, telling loved ones whom to call, to take custody of the collections without a lot of brouhaha. In my case I should do that first about the mercury, and PCB-filled capacitors, and carbon tetrachloride household fire extinguishers. More common toxics, like my grandfather's unused DDT and chlordane, the officials probably see all the time.

[Richard Hull]

A California based modification of one of Newtons laws. For every action there is an intense over reaction.

I am sorry to hear of your friend's passing.

Richard Hull