Dr. George Delno Kerr Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

KNOXVILLE – Dr. George Delno Kerr passed away on Monday, June 13. He was born on April 3, 1938, in Circleville, Ohio to the late George Bryan Kerr and Helen Etta Kerr. Growing up at the conclusion of the Great Depression, George developed a strong work ethic, which was applied to both his academic and professional life. After graduating from Circleville High School in 1956, he worked in a factory during the day and attended evening classes at a branch of Ohio University. In the fall of 1958, George enrolled as a full-time student at Morehead State University in Kentucky, eventually graduating in the spring of 1962 with a B.S. in mathematics and physics. In the fall of 1962, he secured a teaching assistantship position and enrolled as a graduate student at North Carolina State University in Raleigh with a focus on health physics. Completing course requirements for an M.S. degree in physics in the summer of 1964, George soon accepted a position at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and settled in Knoxville where he spent the next 58 years. In 1967, he was awarded an Atomic Energy Commission Health Physics Fellowship and enrolled at the University of Tennessee to earn a doctoral degree in physics, which he received in March 1971. While acquiring a Ph.D. is a significant milestone to be celebrated, he was also the first person in his family to graduate from an institution of higher learning. Dr. Kerr worked over 50 years as a Health Physicist at ORNL, an independent consultant, and a staff member of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities. His professional projects involved studies of radiation dosimetry, radiation transport and shielding, dose reconstruction, radiation risk assessment, nuclear accident dosimetry, and nuclear weapons effects. Additionally, he served as a United States consultant for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, now the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. George spent his entire career advancing knowledge of radiation exposure and its effects on humans, authoring over 150 book chapters and reports for technical journals covering heath physics within the area of radiation protection and safety. To acknowledge his professional success and contributions to scientific research, he received numerous awards from the Health Physics Society and Morehead State University. Dr. Kerr was preceded in death by his sister Marclette Hall and brother Ross Kerr. He is survived by his wife Sarah Elizabeth Kerr; sister Joanne Murchake; sons Brian Kerr, Travis Kerr, and Kevan Kerr; and grandchildren Trevor Kerr, Caylin Kerr, Megan Kerr, Connor Kerr, and Landon Kerr. The family will receive friends from 5:00-7:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 16 at Rose Funeral & Cremation - Broadway with the funeral service to follow, officiated by Rev. Randy Macon of Wallace Memorial Baptist Church. Family and friends will meet at Highland Memorial Cemetery at 10:45 am on Friday, June 17 for an 11:00 a.m. graveside service, officiated by Rev. Kent Williams of Wallace Memorial Baptist Church. An online obituary may be viewed and condolences made at www.rosefuneraltn.com.

Tributes

Dr. George Delno Kerr

April 3, 1938 - June 13, 2022