Eastman Nibley Hatch

Eastman Nibley Hatch (1927-2013)
Logan, UT – Eastman Hatch passed away peacefully on November 16, 2013, his 31,567th consecutive day on earth.  He would have enjoyed knowing it was a prime number of days.  He lived a rich and wonderful life and was always the ultimate gentleman.
He was born on June 14, 1927 in Salt Lake City to J. Eastman Hatch and Florence Nibley Hatch.  During his childhood he lived in Salt Lake City and southern California. As a youngster, he developed a life-long love of classical music.  He graduated from East High in 1945 and immediately enlisted in the Navy.  When the war ended, he returned to Salt Lake to attend the University of Utah.
While at the university, Eastman began his study of physics.  He continued this study for the rest of his life.  East was a proud member of Sigma Chi.  He later transferred to Stanford University where he graduated in Physics.  While home for vacation, he met the love of his life, Anne Clawson.  They married in 1952 and moved to California where Eastman attended graduate school at the California Institute of Technology.  He received his PhD in Nuclear Physics with honors in 1956, followed by post-doctoral work at Caltech and the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York.  In 1958, East and his young family moved to Germany where he first worked for the U.S. Navy and then accepted a research appointment at the University of Heidelberg.  In 1961, he moved to Ames, IA where his was a Professor of Physics and later Associate Dean of the Graduate School at Iowa State University. As a result of his research, he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
In 1969, East returned to live in Utah where he was a Physics professor and later Dean of the Graduate School at Utah State University in Logan.  He supported numerous charitable and service organizations and served in leadership positions, including on the boards of the Chamber Music Society of Logan, Logan’s Rotary International, Sunshine Terrace Foundation and the Stokes Nature Center. In 2003, Eastman was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and bravely faced the inevitable decline with his characteristic grace and good cheer.
East made friends wherever he lived.  He loved spending time at his summer home in Weber Canyon, traveling and living abroad, listening to music and appreciating the adventures of his children and grandchildren.
East is preceded in death by his parents and his two brothers, David and Joseph.  He is survived by his wife Anne Clawson Hatch, his two sons, Joseph Eastman (Sandra) of Salt Lake, and Richard Clawson (Rosemary) of Providence, and his daughter, Anne Florence (Joel Zimmerer) of Cheyenne, WY and six grandchildren, Robert Eastman, William Rae, Catherine Elizabeth, Jonathan David, Lorenzo David Hatch Zimmerer and Eliza Mae Hatch Zimmerer.
The memorial service will be held at the Allen-Hall Mortuary Chapel (34 east Center) in Logan at 11 a.m. on Thursday, November 21, 2013. Friends may call at the mortuary one hour prior to services. Interment will be in the Logan City Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations in his name to the Chamber Music Society of Logan ( www.cmslogan.org ) or the Sunshine Terrace Foundation ( www.sunshineterrace.com ).
Condolences and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the family by visiting www.allenmortuaries.net