Seems appropriate to me, as I think it might to you all, that the new Supernova, 2011dh, has his initials in it by coincidence. A fitting tribute-- as one light leaves us, a galactic blazer announces it to all the universe. Richard Harshaw Cave Creek, Arizona Brilliant Sky Observatory -----Original Message----- From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of AJ Crayon Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 3:39 PM To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: Dave Healy This is quite a shock to me. I had heard of Dave's escapades in early astrophotography. My first encounter, with him and his son, was at a star party up near Paulden where they were both kind and gracious. Some time back I was a visitor at HAC where they had a dinner for club members. Not having been invited I mentioned to David that I'd be willing to pay for my meal. He wouldn't hear of it and said he would handle the cost. We and the astronomical community will miss this gentleman. AJ Crayon Phoenix, AZ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Polakis" <tpolakis@xxxxxxx> To: <AZ-Observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 12:56 PM Subject: [AZ-Observing] Dave Healy I recently received news from Wayne Johnson that Dave Healy passed away on June 6. The family wanted to keep the service private, and it was held on Monday. Wayne wrote the following about Dave. "Dave with his 32-inch R-C telescope discovered about 500 asteroids along with Jeff Medkeff who passed away about 7 years ago. For the past several years Dave's 32-in has been (and still is) being used by a couple HAC members for use in the search for exo-planets. Dave and his wife, Cheryl, hosted the annual HAC Christmas Parties for the past 10 years including countless monthly star parties, which were open to the public. He was also the Astronomical League Correspondent (ALCor) for HAC so he wasn't just a passive, retired member of our club. Dave also served on (and made contributions to) the Arizona Astronomy Board, which lines up funding for the various observatories in the state and had many professional connections because of it. It's a shame you have to wait for someone to pass on before you find out more about them. The same is true for Dave. As was mentioned earlier he had four children (three girls and a boy) and he would have been married to his wife, Cheryl, for 50 years later this year. He was not just a marathoner, but a triatholoner, and apparently participated in about 100 such events (one would have killed me!). Dave was also a member of a men's choral singing group. Professionally he was a stockbroker and made his money selling junk bonds, hence the name of his observatory! When he lived in the New York City area Dave was an avid member of the Astronomical Society of Long Island and was a pioneer in early amateur astrophotography, experimenting with cooled emulsion cameras and, later, hypering film. Many of his astrophotos showed up in S&T and Astronomy magazines. Dave also wrote articles for those magazines. Though he officially retired when he moved to Sierra Vista, where he apparently had ancestors who homesteaded a couple square miles of land near what is now Naco, south of Bisbee, AZ, you could continue to hear Dave's voice on the radio as an expert on the car business. Dave was a kind, intelligent, and generous man to the end and he will be sorely missed by all of us." -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list. -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list. -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.