In MEMORIAM

Tracy Hall BS’42 MS’43 PhD’48, who created the first man-made diamond, passed away at his home on July 25. He was 88.

Howard Tracy Hall was born on October 20, 1919, in Ogden, Utah, to Howard Hall and Florence Almina Tracy. As a young man Tracy roamed the fields of Marriott, Utah, read avidly at the Ogden Carnegie Library, and assembled home-made contraptions from junk-yard components. As a fourth-grader he told his teacher he would someday work for General Electric, the company so closely associated with his hero, inventor Thomas Edison. While a student at the University of Utah in 1941, Tracy married his sweetheart, Ida-Rose Langford. After completing his M.S., he served for two years as a Navy ensign. Returning to the University, he became Henry J. Eyring’s first graduate student. Two months after receiving his doctorate he started work at the General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady, NY. At GE, he joined a team focused on synthesizing diamond in the laboratory. On December 16, 1954, he became the first person to produce diamond from carbon using a verifiable and reproducible process. The next year, Hall became director of research at Brigham Young University, and over his 30 years at BYU, became a highly regarded professor of chemistry and mentor of many graduate students. During that time he also invented the tetrahedral and cubic presses which allowed him to continue his research in the field of high pressure. In 1966, Hall partnered with two BYU professors, Bill Pope and Duane Horton, to form Megadiamond, a company that manufactures diamond products for industrial applications.

A loyal member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hall served as a bishop in the Provo Utah Pleasant View First Ward. He and Ida-Rose later served a full-time mission to Zimbabwe and South Africa (1982-83). In his retirement, Tracy returned to his farming roots and spent his days working at his tree farm in Payson, Utah. During recent years, he suffered the effects of long-term diabetes and advancing age. He was cared for by his wife Ida-Rose until her death in 2005, and by his daughter, Nancy, and other devoted caretakers.

Tracy Hall is survived by four brothers, Eugene M. (Joyce Hansen, dec.), Wendell H. (Merrill E.), Donald R. (D. Louise), and Delbert (L. Carlyn Henshaw, dec.); seven children, Sherlene (Daniel R. Bartholomew), H. Tracy (Helen Gardner Van Orman), David R. (Karen VanDyke), Elizabeth (J. Martin Neil), Virginia (Barry D. Wood), Charlotte (Bryan Y. Weight), and Nancy (Douglas A. Mecham); daughter-in-law Elizabeth Huntington Hall; 35 grandchildren; and 53 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ida-Rose, and a daughter-in-law, Donna Rae Coy Hall. Contributions to the Perpetual Education Fund are welcomed in lieu of flowers.

Edited from the notice published in The Salt Lake Tribune from 7/27 - 7/29/2008.

Stewart M. Hanson, Jr. JD’65, a state judge who sentenced Ted Bundy to prison and later finished third in a bid for Utah governor, died March 30 after a short but valiant battle with lung cancer. He was 69.

Stewart “Nick” Hanson was born in Salt Lake City on February 16, 1939 to Mary Maxwell Hanson and Stewart M. Hanson, Sr. He graduated from Olympus High School in 1957 and married DeAnne Dunn in 1961 when they were both seniors at Westminster College. Nick chose Westminster College because both his father and uncle had attended Westminster when it was still a “college institute” (high school). Stewart graduated with a B.A. (double major in political science and history), cum laude, in 1962, having learned both French and Russian. After graduating from the University of Utah Law School, he practiced law for some 40 years. He started his legal career at Parsons, Behle, and Latimer in 1965. In 1974, he was appointed Judge, Utah Third District Court, and presided in the 1976 aggravated kidnapping trial of Ted Bundy before returning to private practice in 1978. Hanson won the Democratic nomination for governor in 1992. From 2000-2005, until his retirement, Hanson was assistant attorney general and chief of the civil litigation division under Republican Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. He was involved in many professional and civic activities, including serving on the Westminster College board of trustees for almost 18 years. His business activities included being a member of the board of directors of both U.S. Bank (formerly West One, formerly Continental) and Draper Bank and Trust. He served in the United States Coast Guard Reserve, 1957-1977 (Lt. Commander, Commanding Officer, 1973-1977, Honorable Discharge) and the Utah Army Nat'l. Guard, 1977-1985 (Lt. Colonel, Staff Judge Advocated, Retired). After his retirement, Nick and DeAnne built a home in Kayenta/ Ivins and moved to Southern Utan in April 2006. He was diagnosed with cancer that year.

Stewart is survived by his wife, DeAnne; daughters Gillian Papanikolas (Bill), Holly Roper (Brian), and Jennifer Wakefield (Scott); seven grandchildren, Erin and Mackenzie Roper, Jack and Ben Wakefield, and Ari, Sean, and Elena Papanikolas; his brother Stephen C. Hanson (Judy); and many nieces and nephews. Condolences are at Metcalf Mortuary's Web site, www.metcalfmortuary.com.

Edited from the notice published in The Salt Lake Tribune from 4/3 - 4/4/2008.

Coy Miles JD’49, who helped create and produce important Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints collectibles such as the “CTR” ring, died July 4 of congestive heart failure. He was 92.

Douglas Coy Miles was born August 15, 1916, in Baker, Ore., the third of four children to Earl and Verdie Miles. He served an East Central States LDS mission, 1936-38, and attended BYU where he was active in student affairs and fell in love with Blanche Bowen. The day after Pearl Harbor he joined the U.S. Navy, and commanded a Martin PBM Mariner flying boat in the Pacific. Coy and Blanche married on Jan. 26, 1943, in Corpus Christie, Texas, and the two were later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. After the war, Miles received a law degree from the University of Utah and became an active member of the Utah bar. A gifted salesman, he established O.C. Tanner’s first national sales force. In 1955, he joined the L.G. Balfour Co. as national sales manager and worked with Chevrolet and GM, creating original incentive programs. He designed many well-known awards for the LDS Church, among them the Duty to God award, Relief Society pendant, Articles of Faith wall hangings, and the CTR ring. Active in the LDS Church, he taught seminary at West High School and was a guide at Temple Square.

Coy is survived by his wife, Blanche; their three children, Bowen (Denise), Kent (Linda), and Margo (Nelson); grandchildren Lindsay and Sam Miles, Alex and Hannah Kate Anderl, and Corbett, John, and CJ Miles; and nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Perpetual Education Fund, (801) 422-3945. Online condolences may be left at www.larkincares.com.

Edited from the notice published in The Salt Lake Tribune on 7/9/2008.

James Tsai Yuan Wu PhD’72, longtime University of Utah professor and medical director at ARUP Laboratories, died suddenly and unexpectedly in Taiwan on March 20 while on a hospital consultation visit. He was 71.

Wu was born on November 12, 1936, in Hong Kong, China. He moved to Taiwan in 1948 and graduated with a B.S. in agricultural chemistry from the National Taiwan University in 1960. After moving to the United States, he received an M.S. in chemistry at Oregon State University in 1967. He then moved to Salt Lake City and attended the University of Utah, where he received a doctorate in biochemistry in 1972. After serving as a research assistant professor in Biochemistry and Pediatrics, he became an assistant professor of Pathology in 1976 and a tenured professor in 1990. He also served as medical director of the ARUP Special Chemistry laboratory and mentored many medical laboratory sciences graduate students during his career. (ARUP Laboratories is a national clinical and anatomic pathology reference laboratory and an enterprise of the University of Utah and its Department of Pathology.)

Wu was certified by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry in 1979. He was an active member of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry, and the Association of Clinical Scientists, serving in the latter as vice president (1996) and president (1997), and receiving two major honors: the Sunderman Award and the Diploma of Honor. Wu was also honored by the International Research Promotion Council (IRPC) with the Eminent Scientist of the Year 2007 award in the field of Laboratory Science and Medical Research from the USA. As a clinical chemist, he was academically prolific, publishing 96 peer reviewed articles, 181 abstracts, 32 invited papers, five books, and 16 book chapters. He also gave 142 invited presentations and 25 workshops.

Wu enjoyed sports, especially basketball, tennis, and table tennis, and also enjoyed hiking with his wife, Dr. Lily H.L. Wu PhD’82, in a canyon near their home. He had a passion for Chinese food and frequently prepared large multi dish meals for both family and friends.

James Wu is survived by his beloved wife, daughter Lena, son Jason, two grandchildren, two brothers, and one sister. He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother. Memorial and funeral services were held in Taiwan.

Edited from a 4/30/2008 press release issued by ARUP Laboratories.

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