KRON, Katherine

Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff, AZ Tuesday, June 07, 2011 Katherine Gordon Kron, 94, formerly of Flagstaff, died June 1, 2011. She was born May 24, 1917, in New York City to Richard and Rebecca Gordon, the first of four siblings. She was educated at Friends Seminary, Brearley School, the Ethel Walker School, and Vassar College, obtaining an A.B. in 1938. She studied astronomy at the University of Lund, Sweden, returned to Vassar to obtain an M.A. and continued her studies at Harvard College Observatory. Her first appointment was as an assistant at Lick Observatory of the University of California. During the war, she served her country first as a research associate at the California Institute of Technology, and later as physicist at the Naval Ordnance Test Station in China Lake, Calif. On April 22, 1946, she married Gerald E. Kron and brought up a family of five while at the Lick Observatory atop Mt. Hamilton in California. The family moved to Flagstaff in 1965. Mr. and Mrs. Kron retired to Honolulu while maintaining a residence in Sedona. In 1951, Mr. and Mrs. Kron spent a sabbatical year in Canberra, Australia, working at the Mt. Stromlo Observatory, the first of three extended visits. On the way to and back from Australia, they toured islands in the Pacific, pursuing an interest in Pacific cultures. Her many other interests included languages and literature (Swedish, French, and Italian); music (Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Music Sedona); esoteric collecting (for example, bank notes printed by revolutionary organizations); and editing 16mm movies of family and professional events. In her youth, she was an avid horsewoman and later flew her own private plane. She was a trustee of the Museum of Northern Arizona, and as a volunteer worked on pottery restoration and curation. As a scientist, she published 21 research papers, specializing in using photoelectric techniques to measure light curves of eclipsing binary stars. She served as editor of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and served on its finance committee. She was active in the International Astronomical Union, and in retirement served on the advisory board of Lowell Observatory. Throughout, she was an advocate for scientific research, valuing her long-time membership in Sigma Xi. Mrs. Kron is survived by husband Gerald; sister Eleanora Baird; children Richard, Jenny Croft, Virginia Newkirk and Charles; and five grandchildren. She was preceded in death by brothers Richard and Ralph; and son Donald. There are no local services planned. An online guestbook is available at www.westcottfuneralhome.com.