John L. Crandall

Funeral services, with military honors, for Mr. John L. Crandall will take place on Friday, December 21, 2012 at 4pm at the chapel of GEORGE FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION CENTER, 211 Park Ave. SW Aiken. The visitation will be from 2pm until the time of the service. The burial will be private.

Mr. Crandall, 92, of Aiken, died Monday, December 10, 2012 at Aiken Regional Medical Centers.

John was born in Hart, Michigan on September 18, 1920 and later resided in Miami and New York City. He attended private schools in New York and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, participating in campaigns in North Africa, Italy and Egypt, being honorably discharged with the rank of First Lieutenant.

He obtained a BS degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then, after the war, returned there and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in physics. Following graduation, he went to work for E. I. du Pont de Nemours, Inc. first in the research laboratory and then in the explosives department where he participated in the design and development of the production reactors later built at the Savannah River Plant.

He moved to Aiken in 1954 and was appointed research manager of the experimental physics division, a position he held until 1966, when he was appointed Director of the Advanced Operational Planning Group and served in that capacity until 1979. In 1980, he was appointed Process Manager of Planning and later advanced to Program Director of Planning and Waste Management until his retirement in 1984.

His special areas of interest during these periods included the development of new reactor lattice designs, the coordination of production efforts to meet military needs for nuclear weapons, the production of the actinides americium, curium, and californium for research and medical applications and the development of criteria for the long term storage of nuclear waste products. He was a founding father of the local chapter of The American Nuclear Society and made many contributions in both the local and National organizations of that society.

In addition to his parents, Lou Revere Crandall and Marguerite Hill Crandall, he was predeceased by his first wife, Barbara Glaske Crandall and a son, John Revere Crandall. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, Wenzel, of Aiken, whom he met in the Amazon Jungle in Peru in 1982; three nieces and a nephew.

John was a consummate traveler and visited virtually every area of the globe. He meticulously documented his travels photographically. He had special interests in wildlife and in retirement, visited several wild game areas to gain insight into the activities of animal herds. John was also a founding father and past president of the Augusta Torch Club, an association of professional people residing in the Savannah River Area CSRA.

It was requested that in lieu of flowers that John's memory can be honored by going out and doing a good deed for someone.