Donald L. Turcotte

Donald Lawson Turcotte, 92, of Davis, California passed away peacefully at the Sutter Davis Hospital on February 4, 2025. He was born on April 22, 1932 in Bellingham, Washington to Lawson P. Turcotte and Eva A. Pearson, and grew up in Bellingham. He received his Bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. from Caltech in Pasadena, California. At Caltech, he met his wife, Joan Meredith Luecke, and they were married on May 17, 1957. They were married for fifty-seven years until her passing on August 5, 2015.

 Donald joined the faculty at Cornell University in 1959 and taught there until 2002. He started in the aeronautical engineering department and later changed to the geology department. He made significant contributions in the study of mantle convection of the Earth’s interior, seismology, and other areas of geophysics. He authored and co-authored four textbooks and hundreds of papers. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and received medals and awards for his work.

 In 2002, Donald accepted a position at UC Davis where he taught and did research for fourteen years. During his career, he travelled to scientific conferences throughout the world. He spent four separate sabbaticals in Oxford, England. He was a dedicated teacher, mentoring hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students during his career which spanned more than fifty-five years. He appreciated his many wonderful colleagues who enriched his life and career.

 He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, and two brother-in-laws (Anthony Donato and Edward Luecke). He is survived by two sister-in-laws, Patricia Donato of Wellesley, MA, and Joanne Luecke of Montrose, PA, his children Phillip (Jackie) of Edmonds, WA and Stephen (Justine) of Rexburg, ID as well as eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

 The family extends a special thanks to the staff and the many friends at the University Retirement Center in Davis, CA, the nurses and doctors at Sutter Davis Hospital, and to Ramona Hoke for all of their love and care.

 A graveside service will be held at the Davis City Cemetery at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, February 10. The burial will be under the direction of Smith Funeral Home of Davis, CA.

To view the service, use the following link:  https://facebook.com/events/s/donald-lawson-turcotte-memoria/1508540156483283/

The service will be recorded and will be able to be viewed through this site at a future time.