John Bertram Dee

John Bertram Dee, April 16, 1925 – April 10, 2024
   The family of John Bertram Dee announces his peaceful passing of natural causes at the age of 98 after living a very long and active life. John was born in New York City (Hell's Kitchen), one of four children of John Bertram Dee (senior) and Stella Howe (Aurelius). John was very interested in model airplanes in his youth and in 1944 joined the U.S Army (380th bomb squadron) where he became a B-25 pilot on missions to North Africa and Central Europe after WWII ended the European theater (thus, no bombs dropped.) After being honorably discharged from the War Department (predecessor of the Department of Defense) in 1946 he moved to Durham, North Carolina to attend Duke University receiving a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and later a master's degree in nuclear engineering at North Carolina State College. While in Durham he met and married Thelma Louise Martin (July 6,1928 - March 19, 1970).

   In 1954 they moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. From there they moved to Hartford, CT in 1956 where John worked as a nuclear engineer for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, which was developing a nuclear powered airplane. Test flights were made in Brownsville, TX with a fully operational nuclear power plant on board although the engines were still powered by internal combustion engines. John was in charge of shielding the pilots from radiation. The advent of jet aircraft killed the program since they could stay aloft for long periods of time. In 1958 they moved to Rancho Santa Fe, CA where he worked as a nuclear engineer at General Atomics designing helium-cooled gas breeder reactors. John's wife passed away in 1970 and he later remarried Dolores Jean Dee (June 25, 1930 - October 12, 2018). At this time John had four children and Dolores had three children. With the decline of the nuclear power industry in the United States they moved to Switzerland in 1976 with their five youngest children to work for the Swiss government.

   In 1978 they moved to Vienna, Austria, where John worked for the International Atomic Energy Agency, a related agency by the United Nations, until he retired in 1985. Together they extensively explored Europe, Asia and parts of Northern Africa. They enjoyed skiing during the winters in Austria and completed several University Study Tours that included lectures on ancient Egyptian culture, medieval Europe and the geology of Northern Italy and the Alps while traveling. In 1985 they moved to Ramona, CA where they created an orchard with over 200 fruit and nut trees, extensive vegetable gardening and raised a variety of animals which Dolores usually rescued. This became a full-time occupation for both of them, truly a labor of love. John is survived by his four children, John (Mariellen), Robert, Susan and William, his three step-children, Elisabeth, Pamela (Zachary) and Chris (Marianne), nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Please sign the guest book online at legacy.com/obituaries/ ramonasentinel.

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