Harold "Chip" Britt's Obituary
Harold Curran Britt, 84, passed away on Thursday, February 28, 2019 in Easton, Maryland. Harold, known as “Chip”, was born on September 14, 1934 in Buffalo, NY. He was the son of the late Harold W. Britt and Mary C. Britt.
He grew up in small towns in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. After high school he attended Hobart College. He was awarded a Master’s Fellowship to attend a physics program at Dartmouth College. During this time he married the former Donna Case. After completing his Master’s degree at Dartmouth he was accepted to a number of Ivy League graduate schools. He chose to attend Yale on a research scholarship because they had a new kind of nuclear accelerator just coming on line and he wanted an opportunity to work in completely unexplored territory. He finished his PhD in three years with two major papers published in leading journals.
During his career he worked for major national laboratories including Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore. In his early years he was working on the fundamental physics of the fission process. As his career progressed he often managed research groups and accelerator complexes interfacing with colleagues around the world. He and Donna traveled frequently to many countries, including Germany, Denmark, Russia, and China, where he offered his expertise. He also served as a program manager in the Nuclear Physics Office at the Department of Energy, followed by running the nuclear science division at Lawrence Livermore. He then worked for the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. and eventually retired in 1995. After retirement he did consulting work for DOE and Livermore.
After moving to St. Michaels, Chip volunteered as a docent at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, and was recognized for serving over 1000 hours. He was also involved with the Academy for Lifelong Learning, where he taught scientific courses. He also served on the board of the St. Michaels Museum and led historical walking tours in St. Michaels.
Chip and Donna had one child, Beth, who was diagnosed with leukemia at age four, and remarkably survived until the age of 11. He was predeceased by his sisters Sally L. Wilson and Marilyn Merchel Harding. Late in life he was blessed to meet Barbara Anne MacInnes. They were married in January 2018 and made their home in Londonderry in Easton. They had four wonderful months together in their new home. Barbara passed away unexpectedly in May 2018.
Chip is survived by nieces Amy (Warren) Bush and Kimberly Wilson, nephews Michael (Vicki), John (Dana) and Christopher (Jamie) Merchel, and great-nieces and great-nephews. He is also survived by his brother-in-law William Case.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, March 9 at 2:00 PM in the Clubhouse at Londonderry, 700 Port Street, Easton, MD. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to For All Seasons, Inc. at http://forallseasonsinc.org/ or to Talbot Hospice, 586 Cynwood Drive, Easton, MD 21601.
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