Richard Firestone's Obituary
Richard B. Firestone Obituary
9/19/1945 – 9/9/2024
Richard B. Firestone of El Cerrito, California, passed away peacefully on September 9th at the age of 78. He was born in Los Angeles on September 19, 1945, the first child of Doris and Samuel Firestone. He grew up in Evanston, Illinois.
Richard was a proud University of Michigan alum and earned his Ph.D. in Nuclear Chemistry from MSU. Most of his wide-ranging career was spent as a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where he was group leader of the Isotopes Project until his retirement in 2013. Richard’s interests spanned a broad range including nuclear physics, catastrophic comet impacts on Earth, and near-Earth supernovae. He wrote or edited four books.
A friend to the local dog-walkers and devoted father and grandpa, Richard delighted in gift-giving. A family man, he coached El Cerrito youth soccer and was an enthusiastic science fair mentor to his boys and grandkids. He was also a much-appreciated breakfast chef and home baker. Richard is survived by his wife Mary Firestone, sister, Glenda Kravitz, sons Michael, Robert, and Ted, daughter-in-law, Busara, and his two beloved grandchildren, Reuben and Sascha.
His burial occurred on September 12th at Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, CA.
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