Walter James Harrop, born June 1st, 1938 in Boulder, CO passed away August 21st, 2018. He was 80 years old. Walter was a fourth generation Boulder native and graduated from Boulder High School in 1956. He attended CU Boulder before serving in the armed forces in Hawaii and Oklahoma. Walter settled in Boulder with his wife, Gwendolyn Harrop, whom he married in 1968. He worked for the National Bureau of Standards as a scientist starting in the early 1960s before joining the NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory (now the Chemical Sciences Division of the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory). Walter participated in important scientific work during the early pioneering days of stratospheric balloon measurements of atmospheric gases before his career moved on to computing. Walter was a self- taught computing guru that always had a computer manual with him wherever he went, including the dinner table. He absorbed vast knowledge from the hundreds of technical texts he consumed and he used that knowledge to bring the computing infrastructure of the Aeronomy Laboratory from the pre-desktop computing days into the modern era. Walter earned a Department of Commerce Bronze Medal, the highest honor award that the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere may bestow, for his work on the team that designed a state-of-the-art network for the David Skaggs Research Center. Walter earned recognition and awards for his participation in many other projects as well as being known for his work in deploying ad-hoc computing and network support to scientists for numerous field missions in challenging circumstances at remote locations. He was part of the support team for ozone measurement projects in both Norway and Antarctica and provided crucial computing support for IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) scientists. He was among the many substantial contributors to the IPCC, which along with Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for work on climate change. Walter retired from the Aeronomy Laboratory in 2004, after giving 44 years of federal service . He was somewhat eccentric but he had a very eclectic life filled with racing cars, hunting with friends, hiking fourteeners, woodworking, talking politics with his friends, raising a family and playing video games. He is preceded in death by: his wife Gwendolyn A. Harrop, his father Clarence W. Harrop, his mother Sylvia M. Harrop and his sister Joy Colclasure. He is survived by his four children: Christopher W. Harrop, Scott S. Harrop, Gwendy K. Haas, and Lisa L. Harrop, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
The celebration and memory sharing of Walter’s life will be at Crist Mortuary 3395 Penrose Place, Boulder, CO 80301 on September 8th at 3pm. Everyone is welcome to this informal service of sharing. If you wish to send flowers or donate to a favorite charity in his name please do so.
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