Robert Vance Gentry

Robert V. Gentry was born during the Great Depression in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He died in his sleep at his son's home in Loma Linda, California on January 28, 2020. He was 86 years old. He was a research physicist whose area of expertise was the geophysical phenomena of radioactive halos. For thirteen years he was a visiting scientist in the Chemistry Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, from Columbia Union College, Takoma Park, Maryland. After completing an M.S. in physics at the University of Florida in 1956, he spent several years in the defense industry in Fort Worth, Texas (Convair) and Orlando, Florida (The Martin Company). It was while in Orlando that Robert was introduced to Seventh-day Adventism through the It is Written television ministry and baptized following an evangelistic series by George Vandeman. He subsequently joined the physics departments of Walla Walla College and Columbia Union College. Robert authored numerous scientific publications in journals including Science and Nature. He was a member of the American Physical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Geophysical Union, Sigma Xi, the New York Academy of Sciences and listed in Who's Who in America. He authored Creation's Tiny Mystery and collaborated with the Adventist Media Center in the production of Fingerprints of Creation, The Young Age of the Earth and Center of the Universe. One his favorite Bible verses, Daniel 12:3 captures his desire to be found among the faithful who will stand at the last day. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Patricia (Loma Linda), daughter Patti Guthrie (Mt. Shasta) and sons Michael (Norfolk, VA) and David (Loma Linda). Funeral arrangements and memorial service scheduled for February 14, 2020 at the Monticeto Memorial Park and Mortuary in Colton, California. A second memorial service is planned March 7, 2020 at the Knoxville First Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tennessee.