[AZ-Observing] Re: Dave Healy

  • From: "Richard Harshaw" <rharshaw2@xxxxxxx>
  • To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:43:42 -0700

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."
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