Jean E. Duboscq

DUBOSCQ, Jean Etienne. Born Feb. 5, 1964, in St. Etienne de Baigorry, France; died of renal cancer June 13, 2008, in Ithaca, N.Y. Survived by daughter Sandrine, age 11; mother Anne Marie; sisters Marie Christine, Yvette, and Genevieve; siblings-in-law Shelby, Larry, and Lynn; nieces Elise and Anna; uncles, aunts, and a tribe of cousins in France and California. Beloved of Amy. Predeceased by his father, Remi, in 1993.

Jean Etienne earned a four-year scholarship to Johns Hopkins a year before graduating from the Lycee Francais in San Francisco, and left for Baltimore. While there, he became "Jean" because it was easier for his classmates and because his unusual name won him a bed in a freshman women's dormitory.

He entered the Ph.D. program in particle physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, earning his doctorate in 1992. For years afterward, he enjoyed the company of the physics monks he met there, including Chris Felix, who also died too young.

From 1992 to 1994, he worked at the nuclear research center CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. While there, he visited relatives in the Basque country and near Paris, played washboard in the band Randy Mantooth and the Jaws of Life, and once dressed as a French poodle for Halloween.

He worked as a researcher at Wilson Lab at Cornell University from 1994 on, first for Ohio State University, then for Cornell directly, participating in the CLEO project and specializing in tau particles. He brought focus, energy, passion, and a unique sense of humor to his work.

A memorial service will take place on Wed., June 18, at the Unitarian Church of Ithaca, 306 N. Aurora Street, at 4 p.m. For details, contact the Ness Sibley Funeral Home, Trumansburg, 1-888-534-5446. His ashes will be placed in Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, Calif., in late June.

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations to either the Jean Duboscq Memorial Fund for his daughter, c/o Guttman & Wallace, 411 N.

Tioga Street, Ithaca, N.Y., 14850; or to Hospicare, 172 East King Road, Ithaca, N.Y. 14850. The family thanks all the Hospicare staff for their excellent care of him and of us all in his final two weeks.

We will miss his energy and wit, the spring in his step, and his steady affection. We love you, Jean Etienne, and will watch the night sky for one star a little brighter than the others.