John Walter Root

John Walter Root was born in Kansas City, Missouri, October 5, 1935. And grew up in Shawnee Mission, KS. In 1953 he went to the Junior college of Kansas City, MO before transferring to the University of Kansas. As a Junior he won a $750 Scholarship from the Cook Paint and Varnish Company given to an outstanding student in Chemistry at the University of Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1957 with a BA from the College of Arts and Sciences with a Major in Chemistry and Minors in Physics and Mathematics. He was married to Ann Root née Cramer in 1960. He returned to the University of Kansas earning a PhD in Physical Chemistry in 1964 before following a Postgraduate Fellow in Chemistry at UCLA from 1964-1966 and earning a Postdoctoral Certificate in Chemistry under Nobel Prize winner, Willard Libby. He moved to Davis, California where he taught at the University of California, Davis in the department of Chemistry until 1985. Many of his graduate students went on to have careers that made an impact in such fields as Alzheimer’s Research. Edward Grant became the chairman of his department in British Columbia researching Positron emission tomography and Kenneth Krohn was at the University of Washington, Seattle with Cancer research. While in California, he became enamored of wine making and experimented with various batches using grapes from the Napa Valley. He also became an avid collector of wines from all over. In 1985 he transferred to the Los Alamos National Laboratory which was connected to the University of California. He worked there until 1986 where he contributed to several magazines including Computers in Science and Became CEO/CTO of Los Alamos Scientific Computing. There he worked with companies such as Apple with computer innovations. In 1990, he moved to Bellingham, WA where he became a Technical Consultant and formed Mt. Baker Research, LLC focusing on research projects and Rhododendron species and research. By 2007 Mt. Baker Research was working with and creating Optical Standards that were sought after throughout the world including used by countries to calibrate machinery for printing paper money. By 2012, he became deeply involved in Genealogical Research and formed detailed family trees for more than 20 named families. He passed away peacefully at home in Bellingham, WA, on March 28, 2026. He is survived by wife Ann Root, daughter Cheryl Muhr (John), daughter Laura Root (Daniel) and seven grandchildren Kyle, Jessica, Dela, Ciaran, Xavier, Tevye and Grace.

John Walter Root

October 5, 1935 - March 28, 2026