Leo George Faust, age 83, passed away on Oct. 2, 2013 at home in Pasco, Wa.
Leo was born in Fingal, ND on Dec. 9, 1929 to Nick and Louise Faust. He was a very devoted husband, father and grandfather. Leo attended Fingal High School where he participated in their basketball program. After high school he joined the Air Force in 1947 and was honorably discharged in 1953. He continued his education at Humboldt State College, CA. where he earned a BS in Physics. In 1952 he married Louise Baker whom he met in Yuba City, CA at the Moon Light Dance Hall. Through the years he continued his education of graduate studies in Nuclear Engineering at Joint Center for Graduate Study, University of Washington. Leo and Louise moved to Richland, WA in 1959 after accepting a job at General Electric and then with Battelle where he was a Health Physicist and Senior Program Manager at PNNL until his retirement in 1992. The day of his retirement from Battelle he got into his motor home and drove to Rocky Flats in Colorado, accepting a job with M.H. Chew and Associates. Some of his proudest moments in work included research studies characterizing hazards of plutonium and neutrons and developing safe work practices for these, organizer and chair of several International Neutron Dosimetry Workshops, author of more than 100 technical papers and documents including The Plutonium Manual of Good Practice and the first site wide Hanford Radiological Design Manual. He was also the Associate Editor of the scientific journal Health Physics. He was very proud to be the recipient of the HPS Founders Award and the Herbert M. Parker Award of the Columbia Chapter and elected to Life Membership. He was also the recipient of the Pasco School District Substitute Bus Driver of the Year award in 2004.
Leo is survived by his wife of 61 yrs, Louise; daughter, Tanya Chris Worth-Schmidt and granddaughters, Katavera, Jessica, and Nicole and numerous nieces and nephews. Leo is preceded in death by his parents; brother, Roy and sisters, Genevieve and Dorothy.