William Christopher Sidle died suddenly in Cincinnati on March 14, 2010 at age 58. He was born and raised in Chatham, New Jersey and graduated from the Delbarton School, Morristown, New Jersey in 1969. He received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in geology and hydrology from the University of Idaho, Portland State University and The Ohio State University, respectively. He spent his early geology career in various positions in the western U.S. in Idaho and Canadian mines and Texas oil fields and also worked for the U.S. Geological Survey. He studied the Mount Saint Helens Volcano in Washington before, during and after its dramatic 1980 eruption descending into the crater at times for measurements. He had lived in Ohio for 23 years working first for the U.S. Department of Energy where he pioneered a cost-effective method to speed up the cleanup of nuclear waste sites such as Fernald northwest of Cincinnati. Most of his years, however, were spent working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a research scientist. At the EPA Bill was known as a passionate scientist with a unique combination of wisdom, intelligence, and perseverance that allowed him to stay at the leading edge of his research. To understand global climate change, he had begun isotope research work on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and constructed an unprecedented history of temperature change in the region spanning from 10, 000 years ago to the present. He was leading an interdisciplinary team of hydrologists and chemists from several organizations, U.S. National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, Peninsula Community College, and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Bill's research in this area was beginning to provide important clues for not only climate change scientists around the world, but also critical information for the salmon fisheries industry in the region. Bill enjoyed the Pacific Northwest, lighthouses, trains, national parks, hockey, Golden age B-movies, film noir crime dramas. He and his wife attended Saint Saviour Roman Catholic Church, Cincinnati from where a Funeral Mass will be said on Friday, March 19 at 10:00 AM. Visitation is at 5:00-8:00 PM on March 18 at the Gilligan Funeral Home, 8225 Montgomery Rd, Cincinnati. He is survived by his wife, Philomena Sidle, of Cincinnati and his brother, John Sidle, of Chadron, Nebraska. Bills wife, Philomena, has requested in lieu of flowers, please make donations to Washington's National Park Fund (Olympic National Park), P.O. Box 64626, University Place, WA 98464-0626 (www.wnpf.org)in Bill's memory

Service

Thursday, March 18, 2010 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM Gilligan Funeral Home 3734 Eastern Avenue Cincinnati 45226, United States

Service

Friday, March 19, 2010 10:00 AM St. Saviour Church 4118 Myrtle Avenue Cincinnati 45236, United States