Call or Text 24/7 (512) 222-8000

William Richard Daniels

William Richard Daniels
Birthplace: Lehigh, IA
Resided In: Georgetown, TX

William Richard Daniels, PhD passed away on 6 August 2021. Bill was born in 1931 in Lehigh, Iowa. He was the only child of Lucile Elvera and William Austin Daniels. He lived in the Iowa towns of Lehigh, Everly and Fort Dodge prior to attending Iowa State University in Ames, where he participated in Air Force ROTC and received his B.S. in Chemistry. Following graduation, he served in the United States Air Force for five years and lived in numerous U.S. cities, one of which was St. Louis, MO, where he received his M.S. in Chemistry.

Bill moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico, in 1957 and worked for Los Alamos National Laboratory as a nuclear chemist until 1991, at which time he was the Leader of the Chemistry and Nuclear Chemistry Group. He earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of New Mexico in 1964.

Bill celebrated his 90th birthday and his 70th wedding anniversary this year. He married the love of his life, Marjorie Mae, who was raised on a farm in Iowa with eight brothers and sisters. Marge also worked in Los Alamos, for the Los Alamos Medical Center and then the Los Alamos National Laboratory. They moved to Albuquerque after retirement so that they could be near an airport and travel the world. Later, they move to Texas to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

Bill is preceded in death by his daughter, Kathryn (b. 1960) and survived by his wife, Marjorie, his daughter, Rebecca Daniels Kush (b. 1953), two sons, William Jeffrey (b. 1954) and Steven Robert (b. 1964), son-in-law Stephen Kush and daughter-in-law Jiageng Lu. Near and dear to his heart are his five granddaughters and two grandsons-in-law: Alana and Braden St. Clair, Laura and Kyle Huff, Allison Daniels, Maura Kush and Quincy Daniels and his great granddaughter, Zoe Huff.

A memorial service will be held at some point in the future when the family feels ready. His ashes will be interred in Los Alamos, NM at Guaje Pines Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Bill’s memory to the MD Anderson Cancer Center or to your choice of food banks.

Add A Memory