Atkinson

1958 Arizona Republic
"From left, the octahedron as formed by the mineral, flourite; the pyriteohedron, by iron pyrite; the cube, by halite ( salt ), galena, so forth; and the prism, by vanadinite and numerous other minerals. One of pyrite's most common forms is the cube. tees and poker chips dipped in paint. The 40 letters in the title at the top are of balsa wood. There are 111 three-dimensional crystallographic models. Accompanying these are more than 100 three-dimensional drawings showing the derivation of each form. Dick built the entire display himself. The project involved hundreds of hours of study and construction. "He is also a philatelist and numismatist," his father, Pete Atkinson, says. "His collection of stamps and coins contains numerous rarities." These Dick collected and mounted while convalescing. At the recent Silver Jubilee Phoenix Philatelic Exhibition he won a division first with his stamp exhibit. At another time, while living in Colorado, he received seven awards at the coin convention of the Colorado-Wyoming Numismatic Association, of which he is a member. He was the first recipient of the Herman L. Boraker Educational Trophy. in Colorado. He received first place in the Weld County Colorado Science Fair for two consecutive years, and two Elk's Club Science Awards of $50 each. Since the project involved several years of development, it could not, by the rules, be entered in competition for scholarships in the state science fair. It was however, awarded the title, Special Merit Award. He also received recognition from the Colorado Scientific Society and the Air-Vu Instrument Company of Denver. The Colorado Mineral Society presented him with an honorary membership, and the Wyoming Gem and Mineral Society invited him to be guest speaker at one of their annual banquets. While Dick is appreciative of the recognition and awards, it is the science itself that fascinates him most. "My interest in minerals," he says, "is based mainly on two purposes education for a vocation and a desire to be surrounded by those things which best characterize perfection. When that perfection is found in hidden pockets deep within the earth, at the mercy of tons of rock, underground waters and earth movements, it is something that must be appreciated.
"There are many expressions of perfection paintings, tapestries, sculpture but all are the result of man's expressive abilities in, the arts. There is another objet d'art that has all the line, color, contrast and variety combined to create an exquisite attractiveness all its own. That is the crystal, the unique physical expression to which most all minerals are given." Dick hopes to attend the University of Arizona when his health permits. He is recovering from a long siege of rheumatic fever. His plans are to major in chemistry and mineralogy. Due to illness he missed all but 36 days of his senior high school year, but completed the required amount of work in spite of it and graduated eighth in his class. Dick's science work is painstakingly executed and each item in his collection carefully documented. He has an original system all his own by which he catalogs his specimens. HIS DISPLAY of models with their drawings and documentation necessitates an exhibit 12 feet long, 6 feet high, and 3 feet deep. The models are made of durable drawing paper and taken from patterns or templates designed by A. J. Gude HI, of Golden, Colo. The standards on which the models are mounted are made of golf ON A MOUNTAINOUS ridge, high above tim-berline, a 10-year-old boy scanned the hazardous descent into an old volcanic crater. He was searching for crystal-filled geodes. The boy was accompanied by his parents and a rockhound friend. The place was Specimen Mountain rising 12,482 feet into the Colorado sky. To their left a herd of elk loitered on the slopes of a glacier-capped mountain. Nearby a curious cougar watched the boy as he picked his way among the columns of volcanic ash. Richard L. (Dick) Atkinson, the toy, is now 20, and has made significant progress in the field of science.
His home in Glendale houses an exquisite mineral and crystal collection rich yellow sulphur crystals from Sicily, a lustrous hematite crystal from Italy, rubies from Burma, others from Africa, Brazil, Bolivia and many from the United States. Many of the crystals are in geodes. A geode contains a cavity, often created by a volcanic bubble filled with crystals, formed as mineralized waters evaporated. BY STUDYING the principles of crystallization and by experimentation with more simple chemical compounds, Dick has learned to grow single synthetic crystals up to an inch in diameter. "The application of controls on a larger scale," he reasons, "should theoretically result in a crystal of many inches in size. All the factors contributing to crystallization (except the work of the atoms in the chemical .solution) would be artifically administered and controlled. That's what puts the exacting challenge in the study of crystallography." In association with his experiments, and better to understand them, this young scientist built a display, the predominant feature being a selection of crystallographic models, designed to show the complete analysis of external crystallography in three-dimension. Starting with the cube as exemplified by a pyrite crystal, he made an imposing array of models ranging through all the six crystal systems with their 32 classifications. This collection, together with 50 minerals, representing some of the outstanding crystal solids as formed in nature, was on exhibit at the 1958 Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineral Societies and Phoenix Gem and Mineral Shows. DICK'S PROJECT was earned on independently and as an individually executed study in a high school science class when the family lived :: j ( Using patterns designed by A. J. Gude III, Dick makes crystal models of heavy drawing paper. The standards on which they are mounted are golf tees and poker chips.

ATKINSON, William Graham, passed this life on April 3, 2012 at age 90. He had been a resident for eight years at the Alexian Village on Signal Mountain, Tenn., and the Alexian Valley Residences in Chattanooga for four months. Born in Sterling, Colo., he was the son of George and Helen Atkinson and brother of Mildred Jean Atkinson Hill, all of whom preceded him in death. He attended elementary school in Brush, Colo., high school in Fort Lupton, Colo., and graduated AB (Math) with Phi Beta Kappa honors from Washington & Jefferson College, Pa., in 1943. He served in the U.S. Navy Reserve during WWII, 1943-1946. Trained in maintenance and installation of all electronic gear in Navy aircraft on airfields and carriers in the Pacific, he was assigned to CASU #2 at Barber's Point, Oahu, Hawaii. He was awaiting duty where needed to support a planned invasion of Japan when President Harry Truman ordered the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese homeland that ended the war. After discharge from USNR, Atkinson spent two years working as Surveyor and Party Chief for the Colorado State Highway Department. Having met Norma Muscavitch, who was the Registered Medical Technologist in Eben-Ezer Hospital in Brush, Colo., he was inspired to finish Chemical Engineering School under the G.I. Bill at the University of Colorado at Boulder, proposed and married Norma.
Graduating in 1949 with B.S. (Chemical Engineering) degree with honors and pilot plant operating experience, Atkinson was hired by DuPont and assigned as part of the team starting up the Chattanooga Nylon Plant. He retired after 42 years of service, working as Process Engineer in both Chattanooga and Richmond Spruance Nylon Plants.
While living on Dawn Street on Signal Mountain, William and Norma had a family of three boys. Stephen Allen and George Norman survive and are each married with homes in Chester and Chesterfield, Va., respectively. First son, David Owen, preceded him in death. Following the death of wife, Norma, from aggressive MS after 51 years of marriage,
William married Jane Fry, who succumbed to a stroke after six years of marriage.
Surviving William are two sons, two grandsons, a granddaughter and a great-granddaughter.
Church affiliations of William have been Chattanooga Second Presbyterian Church (1950 to 1957), Chester Presbyterian Church, Va., (1958 to 2001), First- Centenary United Methodist Church, Chattanooga (2001 to present).
Organizations to which William belonged: Chester VA Masonic Lodge #94- Past Master, Signal Mountain Masonic Lodge #758, Navy League of the United States, Chattanooga American Legion Post No. 20, Alhambra Shriners of Chattanooga, Virginia Society - Sons of the Revolution, and Sons of the American Revolution, Richmond Chapter.