Submitted by Name: Dirk Petry From: Germany (ESO) E-mail: Contact
Comments: I received the sad news only today. Trevor, as one of the inventors of the Cherenkov technique, has been a prominent person in my professional life. I have always perceived him as a wise man whose calm advice to the Cherenkov telescope community was important and very beneficial. He helped unite the community.
Added: June 17, 2014
Submitted by Name: Peter Nolan From: Brookline, MA E-mail: Contact
Comments: Trevor was a friend and colleague of my late brother-in-law Dr. Cornelius Long of University College, Dublin. After Con got his PhD at UCD he and my sister Mary moved to Minneapolis as Con joined the Dept. of Physics there. I experienced the hospitality of Trevor and Ann in 1968 as I made an extended visit to the US and they were just so warm and just wonderful to be with. They seemed to be really happy in Tucson and they had such a lovely place so I stayed for a few days and Trevor typically roped me in to haul a piece of a dish up the mountain where they were putting together an observatory. He was very observant and witty; great fun to be with and I treasure my few days with the family. I do feel for their daughters; it must be devastating to lose your parents in quick succession but the fact that this remarkable couple will never be forgotten by so many people must at least bring some solace.
Added: June 16, 2014
Submitted by Name: Michael Hillas From: University of Leeds E-mail: Contact
Comments: Although it is now eight years since I last met Trevor, I was so closely involved in the 1980s and 90s that it feels a leading light of my universe has gone. His very long struggle, with single-minded determination to realise the potential of the Cherenkov telescope technique, even when in the 1970s his employers closed down the project and supposedly transferred him to optical astronomy, is the stuff of legend. Collaborating with Trevor has been a very happy part of my life, as I am sure it was for the extensive loose collaboration that grew around him -- bringing support from several different sources to help keep things going. The science is now more exciting; but I know that Trevor felt it had been more fun in the earlier times. At the end though, he must have been satisfied by the great project he had achieved.
Added: June 9, 2014
Submitted by Name: jeremy lloyd-evans From: Leeds University, uk E-mail: Contact
Comments: In a bar in an ICRC meeting sometime in the early 1980's Trevor clinked my glass and toasted the solution to cosmic rays (cygnus x-3 - ha!)- but he had that twinkle in his eye that HE knew that nature was maybe more complicated - how right he was. An amazing intellect all wrapped up in the most gorgeous of personalities.
He taught me how to shave in the focal plane of the Whipple ten metre.
He taught me how to listen to students and fund-raisers alike.
Who can forget his raconteur speeches at innumerable HEA meetings. I wont - thanks Trevor Love Jeremy
Added: June 4, 2014
Submitted by Name: Sean Danaher From: Nwcastle upon Tyne E-mail: Contact
Comments: I first met Trevor in Dublin in 1978 and got to know him very well during 1979-1980 at Mt Hopkins when I was doing my PhD under his,David Fegan and Neil Porter's supervision.
Trevor was a fantastic mentor; always helpful. It was a privilege being at Mt Hopkins in the early days; Tervor's warmth, friendship, encouragement was extraordinary. His wonderful family was equally welcoming. He has remained a life long hero.
I found myself bursting into tears while writing this so powerful are the memories of him.
Trevor is very widely admired - not just in the Gamma Ray community. I work in Neutrino Astronomy these days and when I mention that Trevor was one of my PhD supervisors I get great respect. Indeed when the Nobel Prize was announced a few years ago some of my colleagues thought Trevor might be in the running.
Added: June 4, 2014
Submitted by Name: John Kildea From: Montreal E-mail: Contact
Comments: I got to know Trevor personally as I was completing my PhD. He was on sabbatical at UCD. My strongest memory is of how he would check in with me before going home, to be sure that something we had discussed made sense or to follow-up on an interrupted discussion. Over the years it was always the same – both personally and professionally Trevor's door was always open and he was always willing to help.
In 2001 Sky Publishing lost a legal battle against an employee who had sued for wrongful dismissal rooted in homophobia. Dismayingly, the publisher lobbied the MA legislature to repeal the state's equality laws. I was invited to sign a petition. At the time I would never have dreamt of asking Trevor to sign it. But I didn't have to. His name was already on the list, close to the top. It meant a great deal to me.
It can be said of very few people that they pioneered a new field of science, even fewer that they are among the kindest human beings you'll ever meet. Trevor was both.
Added: June 2, 2014
Submitted by Name: Adrian Rovero From: Argentina E-mail: Contact
Comments: Many anecdotes that I could tell about my counselor, teacher and friend since I met him, back in 1989 when he visited Argentina looking for students to develop the gamma ray astronomy in the South. In 1991, coming to Tucson with my wife and 3 year old son, Trevor spent almost two days of his busy agenda to take his car in search of an apartment for us. The next day he left several kitchen utensils that Ann had sent us to bear the first moments of that move. I did not take long to realize that that was only the beginning of a long list of acts of generosity that lasted for ever. Thanks Trevor for all that you have given us, for all that you have meant to me and my family.
Added: June 2, 2014
Submitted by Name: Mathieu de Naurois From: France E-mail: Contact
Comments: Trevor was just one of the most amazing people in gamma-ray astronomy. Always ready to party, always ready to spread ideas.
I will remember him as the one dancing on the table with Patrick Fleury & Tadashi Kifune in a korean bar in Tsukuba, Japan. This was a very happy and friendly over the frontiers moment.
Rest in peace, great person.
Added: June 1, 2014
Submitted by Name: Valerie Connaughton From: University of Alabama in Huntsville E-mail: Contact
Comments: Landing in Tucson airport brought back that first trip in 1991, being met by Trevor and taken to Tir na nOg, where Ann and Trevor (probably mostly Ann!) insisted on housing me rather than leaving me at the mercy of the seedy motel on Speedway used by the visiting Irish students.
After a few months in Tucson with Trevor, I couldn't wait to mature as a scientist so that I, too, could be quietly self-confident, knowing a lot, but still retaining limitless curiosity about everything as well as the patience to teach it all to a revolving gaggle of awkward Irish students. Of course now I realize that maturity wasn't the half of it, how exceptional Trevor was, and how lucky we all were to share some part of his life.
Added: June 1, 2014
Submitted by Name: Heinz Voelk and Werner Hofmann From: Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany E-mail: Contact
Comments: A few days ago we were informed that Trevor Weekes has passed away. Unfortunately we learnt in addition that his wife is extremely ill at this point. We have met Trevor in the early nineties, when we started, together with others, to do Very High Energy gamma-ray astronomy in Europe with the HEGRA array on La Palma, and later with H.E.S.S. in Namibia. He was the pioneer of the field and we not only respected him for that but became professional friends. Trevor also came to Namibia for the inauguration of H.E.S.S. In the year 1997, the three of us participated in an international gamma-ray workshop in the Kruger Park. Heinz Voelk and his wife Amparo were neighbors of the Weekes's at the lodge. The ladies spent many occasions together and thereby became fond of each other. Trevor was a great scientist and a magnanimous individual. We are sad about his untimely death. We will keep his memory in the highest regard.
Name: Dirk Petry
From: Germany (ESO)
E-mail: Contact
I received the sad news only today. Trevor, as one of the inventors of the Cherenkov technique, has been a prominent person in my professional life. I have always perceived him as a wise man whose calm advice to the Cherenkov telescope community was important and very beneficial.
He helped unite the community.