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physicistBy Bill DonovanSpecial to the Timesthings he learned as a child andhe would be able to recite largeWINDOW ROCK - For most of Ceremony.segments of the Blessing Wayhis life, Fred Begay explored areas of science to make life better for allof people on this earth and in doingso, became a mentor to generationsIn his younger years, he spoke only Ute and Navajo and began learning English when he was 10. When he was 10, B ureau of Indi anof young Navajos who also had Affairs officials decided he needed adreams of becoming scientists.Begay, who is TachiTi (Red Running into the Water People) and Kinlichunif, died on April 30 at the age of 80 in Los Alamos, N.M., where he had made his homesince 1971. A memorial service, by invitation only, is being held in Santa Fe on June 22.His life story took many twists and turns throughout his life buttwo things remained constant - hislove for Navajo tradition and hisdesire to explore areas dealing with alternative energy sources.Born June 2, 1932 in Towaoc,Colo., on the Ute Mountain IndianReservation. His mother, Joy Lopez, was Navajo and Ute and his father,Hosteen Begay, was Navajo.In his biography with theNational Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration. NASA, Begay saidhe was only six when his motherand father, both Navajo healers,began teaching him the songs ofthe Blessing Way Ceremony.Although he spent much of hisadult life exploring such things as lasers, he said he never forgot theHerbert FranciscoFORT DEFIANCE - Funeral services for Herbert Francisco,more thorough education and placed him in boarding schools - first in Ignacio, Color, from 1942 to 1946, and then in Albuquerque from 1947to 1951.Fred Begaytake advantage of federal educationDuring those years, he took classes to be a fanner since they didn't see much of a future for himfunds being made available forveterans to go on to college.More than 300 Navajos wouldas a healer.take advantage of this program butnone more so than Begay. TribalHe would remain in the BIA officials saw a big future for himschool system until he was 18.After leaving the BIA schools, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and went to fight in the Korean War. As a non-commissioned officer, Begay served in the U.S. Air Force from1951 to 1955 and was assigned to an air-rescue squadron in Korea during the Korean Conflict.When he was discharged, he went back to his mother’s 30-acred farmwith the intention of growing com and raising a family.But things were happening in the outside world that would haveand asked him to consider taking mechanical engineering courses.He hitchhiked from Shiprock to Albuquerque, where he attended the University of New Mexico using his BIA farming certificate (in lieu of a good high school education). UNM admission officials accepted this but made him promise that he would go to high school classes at night to make up for deficiencies in his BIA education.a profound affect on his life.In the 1950s, the NavajoNation worked with the Veteran'sHe kept his promise but admitted later he had to work hard in passing the English classes. The German classes he took in college, he would say later, were easier because he found structures there similar toAdministration to encourage structures in Navajo.veterans coming from Korea to But while he struggled in English.crafts.Marie is survived by her son, Amos Nelson; stepson, Danny Nalwood; daughters, Emerline James andI urinria Ginrh/ ShAnarrl- sistAraEverett L. Sampson Sr.; daughters, Geniece Kenney and Hilesha Ann Jenkins; brothers, Marzell Sampson, Elray Sampson, Valgene Sampson,William Ramnsnn and RanduTHURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2013PAGE AHhis mind had no problem grasping math and science and once hisUNM teachers learned this, they pushed for him to change his major to physics. In 1961, he graduated with a physics degree even though he still had not managed to get a high school diploma.In 1952, he married Helen Smith,whom he met in Shiprock. By 1971, when he left UNM with adoctorate in nuclear physics, the Begays took their seven children to Los*Alamos, N.M., where hewas promised an exciting job in the physics department where scientists were working is using lasers, along with electrons and ion beams to heatthermonuclear plasmas for use in alternative energy sources.He was also part of a NASA-funded space physics research team at UNM to conduct fundamentalstudies on the origin of high-energy gamma rays and solar neutrons (1960-1963; 1965-1972).He has held research and teachingfellowships at Stanford Universityand the University of Maryland.His daughter. Teresa Begay, said her father enjoyed the entireexperience because he was given the opportunity to work at manyprojects.During the Paul Jones and Peter MacDonald administration, he cameback to the reservation regularly to speak at commencement exercisesstudents not to be scared of math andscience, and to consider majoring in science or math when they went on to college.MacDonald would often useBegay as an example of just how far Navajo students could go if they put their mind to it.Begay ’s life has been documented in the following films, Nation within a Nation (Hearst MetrotoneNews, 1972); In Our Native Land(Sandia Laboratory 1973); The Long Walk of Fred Young-Begay (British Broadcasting Corporation and NOVA, 1978); Dancing with Photons (KNME-TV, 1997).He has also been featured in theNational Geographic Magazine (1987), Notable Twentieth Century Scientists, Gale Research. Inc,l994,and numerous published articles in newspapers, magazines andtextbooks.Begay has received thefollowing awards: Ely ParkerAward, American Indian Society for Engineering and Science, 1992; Lifetime Achievement Award,National Science Foundation, 1994;Distinguished Scientist Award, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans inScience, 1999. He has also receivedother awards from the Department of Energy and the Navajo Tribe for his work in science, scienceeducation and public service.and at high schools encouraging Upon his retirement one of hismain goals as president of theSeaborg Hall of Science was toat the Chinle Catholic Church with Father A. Litigo officiating. Burial will follow in Chinle.Julia was born Dec. 7, 1949, inChinlA intn thA Mountain PaooIacontinue to provide public services to the Navajo community in science and technology matters.The Seaborg Hall of Science, which is named after the lateT. Seaborg, is an independent non-profit education and research institution.His family supports his commitment to this institution andin lieu of flowers, any donations may be made to the Seaborg Hall of Science, 2480 36th Street, LosAlamos, NM 87544.A private family service was held on May 3, 2013 and a memorialservice will be scheduled in June.Contact Joyce Begay-Foss at begayfoss_2000@yahoo.com for details.He is survived by his wife Helen and children, brother Johnny Lopez, Raymond and Norman Lopez (Glenda) and many other relatives from Dine and UteMountain Tribe. Children includeFred Begay Jr., Joyce Begay-Foss (Phil), William Young, JaneiEdwards, Teresa Begay, ChristinaBenir-Biyeeh, Carolyn Pieper (Scott); grandchildren are AmberBegay, Crystal Stephenson (Quinn). Jade Begay, Justin Foss (Aubry), Yana Whitson (Chris), Jeremy Begay (Elizabeth), Benjamin Begay (Brenda), Kalika Davis, Winnona Young, Stephen Lewis, Jason Edwards (Adrianne Maes),Sarah Edwards (Patrick Herrera), Erick Williams (Bonnie), Michael Williams, Andrea Desbah O'Hare,Amanda Dun woody (Alex Brown), El izabeth Cropp-Cabel lo (M anuel);great grandchildren are Jacqueline and Helena Ordaz, Wyatt Jaxon Whitson, Triana Begay, William, Margaret, Ryan , Krista. Abagail, Adam and Belle Young, Naomi and Nathaniel Edwards, Chiara andElla Herrera, Joseph, Lily, Leah andJaxon Williams, Abegail Brown,Nobel Chemistry Laureate Glenn Jordon Cropp and Jewel Cabello.
Newspaper Details
Navajo Times
Window Rock, Arizona, US
Thu, Jun 13, 2013
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Jane D.
MD, USA 31 Jul 2020
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