Reginald Gwin

GWIN, REGINALD - a veteran of WWII and physicist at ORNL, died at home on August 29, 2011 after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 87. Reginald, the only child of Reggie and Noma Gwin, grew up in Chattanooga, TN. Throughout his high school years, he was an avid musician and played trumpet in local swing bands. At age 17 he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served as a radio operator and navigator before becoming a prisoner of war in Germany during WWII. He earned degrees in physics from the University of Chattanooga (BS), Emory University (MS), and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (PhD). In the 1950's he began working at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he spent many fulfilling years as a nuclear physicist. Reginald met Betty Ann Kimsey while attending the University of Chattanooga, and they married in 1948. They moved their growing family to Knox County, TN, near Farragut, in 1958. Outside of work, Reginald loved to garden, sail, and read. He also enjoyed family hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains, and yearly beach vacations in Pawley's Island, South Carolina. After retirement, he and Betty Ann found great pleasure in Elder Hostel trips, particularly birding trips to Texas and Costa Rica, and in trips throughout the U.S. and abroad with good friends made during their many years in East Tennessee. Reginald's survivors include his wife Betty Ann; daughter Holly Gwin and her husband William Chandler; son William Gwin, his wife Pamela, and their children Paul, Moses, and Madeline; son David Gwin, his wife Vanessa, and their children Katie and Riley; daughter Mary Guffey, her husband John, and their son Matthew; and daughter Regina Goldman and her husband Norman Goldman. The family requests that gifts in lieu of flowers be made to the Alzheimer's Association . A funeral service honoring Reginald's life will be held 7pm Thursday at Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel. Interment with be 2pm Friday at U.S. National Cemetery in Chattanooga Tennessee with Military Honors. The family requests that gifts, in lieu of flowers, be made to the Alzheimer's Association . The family will receive friends from 5 -7pm Thursday at Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel. Online condolences at www.rosemortuary.com

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Reginald Gwin

January 14, 1924 - August 29, 2011