George Healy Obituary

George W.Healy 5/18/09 ~ 11/20/02  George W. Healy, age 93, died peacefully in Salt Lake City November 20, 2002. George was born May 18, 1909 in Muehlau, Austria to expatriate Ameri-cans James Edward Healy and Marie Wilhelmina Healy (nee Keidel). He spent most of his early life in France, Switzerland, and England. He attended the Sorbonne in Paris and then entered Yale University, graduating with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1933. He then did graduate work in Munich, Germany, researching on age and heat hardening of copper-aluminum alloys. With the onset of World War II, George returned to the United States and obtained a position with Union Carbide in Niagara Falls, where he was employed for 24 years, working on many projects critical to the war effort and doing research on ferro-alloys. In 1958, he received, jointly with D.C. Hilty, the Hunt Award for his studies on oxygen refining of stainless steel. In 1963, George joined Pennsylvania State University as Associate Professor of Metallurgy, where he taught the physical chemistry of steelmaking and ferro-alloy production. He retired in 1974. That fall, he came to the University of Utah to fill a temporary vacancy, which lasted until his retirement in 1989. In 1982 he was awarded a special prize in the Hofmann competition for a paper on the application of selective oxygen enrichment in lead concentrate sintering. In 1983, he received the Best Teacher award. In 1997, the University of Utah appointed him Research Professor Emeritus of Metallurgical Engineering. George was a member of the Metallurgical and Iron and Steel Societies of AIME, the Canadian Institute of Metallurgy, the American Society for Metals, and the American Ceramic Society. George married Trudy Besag, of Baden-Baden Germany, in 1941. They had six children. Trudy died April 26, 2000. After his retirement, George and Trudy traveled to Bhutan, the Black Sea, Europe, the Caribbean, Canada and Mexico. He enjoyed hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing at the Brighton track. He was an avid reader, particularly of history, biography, and historical fiction, and a skilled woodworker. George is survived by six children, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife, and two grandchildren. He was the last surviving member of his family. Friends are encouraged to contribute to an environmental organization or an educational institution in George's memory. Thanks to all the kind and skillful staff at Garden Terrace who made his last years more enjoyable than one would have thought possible.