Birth date: Feb 12, 1965 Death date: Jul 11, 2014
David Victor Jordan PhD of Richland, WA passed away July 11, 2014 following a valiant battle with pancreatic cancer. Dave was born in Tacoma, WA and was preceded in death by his father Dick Jordan. He leaves his mother, Barbara J. Read Obituary
I did not know of Dave’s passing until recently and I will always remember having my first piece of pecan pie at Johnny’s in Fife with Dave… -I laughed the entire time as we shared a sweet time…. Dave defined “ Independent study” at Fife High School …. Wearing his headphones and speaking fluent French on his own….. So funny and so humble - He always made me laugh…, I remember his iconic comic book collection and thinking - So people really do read these…. what a beautiful soul.
Not sure my thing is posted G here D's best college bud I would appreciate anyone reaching out I am not good at this
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He's not deceased I'm his best College friend. Nobody mentioned he was Presidential Award Best Student 1987. Walked up like a Champ, leaving me alone with his FAM who had Box Seats at Hec Eds with Dave,me and Dick that Day. I met Dave, knew Dave, Prayed and Rocked with Dave. Taught Dave all the Sociology he knows.
He's playing Frisbee. If anyone wants a copy of his Binder of short stories I have it here somewhere but don't drink milk first unless you want it coming out of your nose. If you're reading this Dave I am the ONLY one who knows you are alive apparently.
Dave Jordan was the principle investigator for a standoff radiation detection project, and I was asked to help develop large radioactive sources for use outdoors in a field demonstration of different systems. What we thought would be a 3-month effort took the best part of a year, and was the start of a very satisfying professional collaboration team. Even better, it was the start of a wonderful friendship. Who'd have thought that sitting outdoors for three nights in a row taking data could be so entertaining? I'll never forget going to the staff mixer at PNNL Laboratory Director Len Peter's home, where Dave, my husband, and I banded together to look like we were socializing. We actually did socialize with other folks a bit, but we were all looking at our watches to figure out when it would be safe to depart without giving offense. We all would have been much happier with a board game...
David was the first graduate student I met and worked with at MIT when I arrived as a postdoc in his group in 1992 - and I remember vividly what a leader he was within the group, how much he taught me during our overlapping time, how much I continued to learn later from the work he left behind, and how his sharp wit and humour set him apart. I was saddened to hear of his illness and passing, and my thoughts and prayers are with him and his loved ones.
I was very sorry to hear of David's passing. I met Dave in grad school at MIT, where we had the same thesis adviser and overlapped by about a year. I have vivid memories of his warmth, his smile and laugh, and his great sense of humor. My sincere condolences to all of his friends and family.
David was such a humble and brilliant person! He had this great mix of intelligence, athleticism, humor and humility all wrapped up together! I remember in 3rd grade we both had Mrs. Rogers (those of you that remember Mrs. Rogers know that you never wanted her for your 3rd grade teacher!). The cold/flu had hit our class hard, and David and I both had the sniffles. David and I sat next to each other and one day during class, David kept sniffing and sniffing and chose to sit in his seat as to not upset class (and Mrs. Rogers) instead of getting up and getting a kleenex, and Mrs. Rogers came UNGLUED and started yelling at me because she thought I was the one sniffing! David just froze and didn't speak up (Shoot...I don't blame him!). He apologized and apologized for that after class and felt so bad. The next day he brought us our own box of Kleenex so that we would NEVER have to bring attention to ourselves again in Mrs. Rogers class! He was just plain awesome!
Working with David these past few years I got a tiny glimpse of his truly brilliant mind. I emphasize it being only a glimpse because just as others have pointed out he was humble. Very rarely in this world do you come across brilliance and rarer still is finding that brilliance coupled with humility. Dave was one of the best and his loss will be hard to overcome. To his family, you gave the world a gift by raising such an outstanding human being. Thank you for letting us borrow and work with such a great man. Take pride in his accomplishments as I know he credited you with making them possible.
I was fortunate to work with Dave the last 4.5 years. I always learned something new in every interaction. I witnessed his brilliance in solving problems and his courage and even joy in the face of his diagnosis. He certainly never complained, but expressed gratitude for his years. His response showed a real depth and a mature faith, something I will remember. I miss his collegiality, his outstanding sense of humor, and stopping by his office to visit and talk science. My thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family.
Dave was a true gentleman and an inspiring character. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
