Louis Joseph Shamey, 62, died of esophageal cancer Monday, February 14, at his home in Boulder, Colorado.
He was born August 21, 1942 in Brawley, California to Louis and Mary Shamey. Three years later, the family moved to Santa Monica, where they were proprietors of Shamey’s Market from 1948 to 1968.
Shamey received a B.S. degree, cum laude, in physics from Loyola University, Los Angeles, in 1964, and took his doctorate in physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1967. He was a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Geophysical Union and the American Physical Society.
In 1995, he became co-owner of Space Analytics Consultants in Boulder. Prior to that, he was a physicist at Ball Aerospace Systems Group, Boulder, from 1986 to 1995, a consultant from 1984 to 1986 and a senior research physicist at Denver Research Center (a division of Marathon Oil and U.S. Steel) from 1973 to 1974.
He was an avid photographer, and loved literature, classical music and hiking. According to a family spokesperson, he “appreciated the mysteries of the cosmos, as well as those closest to the human heart.”
Survivors include three sisters, Annette Shamey and Lorraine Shamey of Santa Monica and Katherine Shamey of West Los Angeles.
A memorial service was held in Boulder on March 5. Services will be held in Santa Monica at St. Monica’s Church on Saturday, March 12, at 2:30 p.m.In lieu of flowers and other gestures of sympathy, the family requests that contributions be made in Dr. Shamey’s memory to a homeless shelter in Santa Monica, Daybreak, 1453 Sixteenth St., Santa Monica, CA 90403.
