Dr. Elden Cole Whipple, Jr.

Dr. Elden Cole Whipple, Jr.

Died on April 5, 2019 at the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer, Alaska, having battled Alzheimer’s Disease for some years. The eldest of four children, Elden was born on January 17, 1931 in Bellingham, Washington to Elden and Evelyn Ethel (Watson) Whipple.

Elden’s parents served as Christian missionaries with the China Inland Mission. When not in China, the family lived variously in Bellingham and Seattle, Washington, Vancouver B.C., and Portland, Oregon. In 1940, while in Bellingham at The Firs conference center, Elden’s mother died of cancer. The young family returned to China where Elden attended boarding school in Cheefoo. In 1941 Elden’s father married Marian Carleson of the same mission.

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and invaded China Elden’s family was placed under house arrest by the Japanese forces in Tsingtao. The family later joined hundreds of other allied civilian prisoners in the Weihsien internment camp in Shantung province. While interned Elden suffered appendicitis; the Japanese military permitted him to leave camp for surgery, performed by a German doctor, a family friend. The family returned to the U.S. in 1943 aboard the M.S. Gripsholm, a Swedish Red Cross ship, part of a civilian prisoner exchange that also involved many Japanese-heritage prisoners detained in the U.S.

Elden graduated first in his high school class of 1948 from Kitsilano High School in Vancouver B.C., completed a three-year diploma program at Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, studied a year at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and then graduated in 1955 from Wheaton College in Illinois with a physics major.

Wheaton connections led to a position in the Space Science Group at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. where Elden participated in early satellite research. In 1958 Elden joined the newly-established National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) where he worked in the Space Physics Division at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. While at NASA he participated in joint study programs with George Washington University to earn a Master’s degree and Ph.D. in physics.

While in Washington, D.C. Elden met June Marie Lewis (1928 — 2017), and a faculty member at Washington Bible College. During their marriage of almost 62 years they raised three children and established homes in Washington D.C. (1955 — 62); Bowie, Maryland (‘62 — 65); Boulder, Colorado (‘65 — 75); San Diego, California (‘75 — 94); Bothell, Washington (‘94 — 02); and Palmer, Alaska (‘02 — present).

In positions at NASA, including branch chief of Magnetospheric Physics and as a research

scientist with the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA), the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Center for Astrophysics and Space Science at the

University of California at San Diego and the University of Washington at Seattle, Elden

collaborated on numerous space projects and worked to broaden scientific understanding of

plasma physics in space and the upper atmosphere. Much of his work focused on the

magnetosphere (effects visible in the aurora) and its interplay with satellites. He also contributed

to the study of quarks, quasars and dusty plasmas. He authored and/or collaborated on one

hundred peer-reviewed, published journal articles, often with scientists of other countries. NASA

also awarded him for obtaining a patent for an improved method and apparatus for determining

the orientation of a space vehicle in flight.

Elden & June contributed generously to mission organizations, churches and various family

needs. Elden enjoyed family activities, travel, hiking, snow skiing and tennis, and quiet evenings

at home with puzzles, board games and science journals. His greatest enthusiasm was

discovering the hidden handiwork of creation.

Elden is survived by his three siblings: Lorna Lee Black of Spring, Texas; Rev. Dwight Wilbert (Judy) Whipple of Lacey, Washington; and Julie Nettie Wayner (Hank) Bult of Sebring, Florida; his children and their spouses: Peter (Karen) Whipple of Thousand Oaks, California; Ben (Diana) Whipple of Palmer, Alaska; and Norah (Tom) Caudill of San Diego, California; his eight grandchildren: John, Heidi, Joseph, Mollie, Jacob, Michelle, Keziah and David; two great- grandchildren: Zora and Lydia, as well as cousins, nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at Lazy Mountain Bible Church in Palmer, Alaska on Saturday, June 8th at 4:00 p.m.