1946
Dennis
2014
Dennis Liles
April 1, 1946 — April 13, 2014
Obituary for Dennis Richardson Liles
Dennis Richardson Liles of Durango passed away on April 13, 2014 at Mercy Regional Medical Center of cardiac and pulmonary complications. He was 68.
Dennis was born, April 1, 1946 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated high school from Isidore Newman School and was proud to say that "Peyton Manning went to my school." He attended Georgia Tech where he earned a Ph.D. in Engineering.
He moved to White Rock, New Mexico where he began a 30-year career with Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dennis led the TRAC project at LANL, which was the successful development of a three-dimensional nuclear reactor transient couple thermal-hydraulics and reactor kinetics software code used to analyze the safety of nuclear reactors in operating events and incidents. While at LANL he was heavily involved in the safety analysis for several Department of Energy projects, including facilities at Rock Flats near Denver and various other facilities at LANL.
Dennis was passionate about narrow gauge trains--both real and model trains. Colorado's railroads and mining history kept him busy in the summer months searching for old mines and abandoned railroad roadbeds. He would spend hours perusing historical books and mapping out trips to where a railroad used to run. And since most of those railroads existed to support mining towns, he was smiling all summer. He was a longtime member of the San Juan Large Scalers in Durango and numerous historical societies in Colorado. Dennis had a big heart and every Christmas, donated to the Manna Soup Kitchen and either the New Orleans or La Plata County Salvation Army.
He is survived by his wife, Marilyn White of Durango; son, Daniel Liles and daughter-in-law Amber of Rowlett, Texas; stepdaughter, Casey Gagnon of Dayville, Connecticut; sisters-in-law Carol Cooper and Pamela Buchanan of Cripple Creek, Colorado; and former wife, Laura Liles of White Rock, New Mexico.
Cremation has occurred and a Celebration of Life will be held in Durango at a later date for family and friends.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the New Orleans Salvation Army.
Dennis was born, April 1, 1946 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated high school from Isidore Newman School and was proud to say that "Peyton Manning went to my school." He attended Georgia Tech where he earned a Ph.D. in Engineering.
He moved to White Rock, New Mexico where he began a 30-year career with Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dennis led the TRAC project at LANL, which was the successful development of a three-dimensional nuclear reactor transient couple thermal-hydraulics and reactor kinetics software code used to analyze the safety of nuclear reactors in operating events and incidents. While at LANL he was heavily involved in the safety analysis for several Department of Energy projects, including facilities at Rock Flats near Denver and various other facilities at LANL.
Dennis was passionate about narrow gauge trains--both real and model trains. Colorado's railroads and mining history kept him busy in the summer months searching for old mines and abandoned railroad roadbeds. He would spend hours perusing historical books and mapping out trips to where a railroad used to run. And since most of those railroads existed to support mining towns, he was smiling all summer. He was a longtime member of the San Juan Large Scalers in Durango and numerous historical societies in Colorado. Dennis had a big heart and every Christmas, donated to the Manna Soup Kitchen and either the New Orleans or La Plata County Salvation Army.
He is survived by his wife, Marilyn White of Durango; son, Daniel Liles and daughter-in-law Amber of Rowlett, Texas; stepdaughter, Casey Gagnon of Dayville, Connecticut; sisters-in-law Carol Cooper and Pamela Buchanan of Cripple Creek, Colorado; and former wife, Laura Liles of White Rock, New Mexico.
Cremation has occurred and a Celebration of Life will be held in Durango at a later date for family and friends.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the New Orleans Salvation Army.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Dennis Liles, please visit our flower store.
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