Coerte Van Voorhies' Obituary
Coerte passed away peacefully at Anne Arundel Medical Center on October 31, 2021 after a three-month illness.
He is survived by his wife Wendy, sons Will and Eric, and daughter-in-law Sally Voorhies; also his sisters Lemoine Fernandez and Sarah Voorhies; his brother Daven Voorhies and sister-in law Vickie Voorhies; nieces Sabrina Brennan and her wife Aimee Luthringer, Nyssa Brennan, Jessica Curcio and her husband Jon; nephews Jonah Brennan, Dereck Voorhies and his wife Leslie, and Wesley Voorhies; also seven grandnieces and nephews.
Coerte grew up in South Pasadena, California; he developed an abiding love of mountains while hiking with the Boy Scouts. He graduated from South Pasadena High School in 1974 and went on to major in physics at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, where he graduated in 1978. He earned a doctorate in Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1984. He and Wendy then moved to Maryland so he could pursue geophysical research at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. After twenty-eight years, he retired as a senior scientist in 2012.
Since retiring he had enjoyed scenic travel, gardening, dining with family, playing guitar, and his weekly RPG group.
A family memorial service will be held in California at a later date. We welcome donations in Coerte's name to the National Park Foundation or the Sierra Club.
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