Arthur Tarr

Arthur Charles Tarr died peacefully on February 20, 2025, at the age of 83 at the memory care unit at Sunrise of Boulder. Art was born in Pittsburgh, PA on June 11, 1941, the first child and only son of Oliver Franklin Tarr and Cora Helen Bass Tarr. The family was completed by births of his sisters, Marian and Nancy. They lived in the small Pittsburgh suburb of Verona located on the banks of the Allegheny River. Early on, Art showed a keen interest in the world around him. A voracious reader and avid learner, Art excelled in his studies, rocketing to valedictorian of his Verona High School class - of 28 students, as he was quick to add. However tempered this achievement may have been by the diminutive class size, he was accepted into the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University from which he received a degree in Physics. He then earned a PhD in Geophysics at the University of Pittsburgh and launched into his life's work.

Art's professional career spanned more than 37 years and was marked by a deep dedication to scientific discovery and innovation. He served as a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center from 1974 to 2006, following his earlier work with NOAA from 1969 to 1974. Throughout his career, Art remained at the forefront of applying emerging technologies to earthquake research. He was an early pioneer in leveraging geographic information systems (GIS) to visualize and analyze data regarding strong earthquakes (magnitude 5.5-9.5) on a global scale, opening new ways to understand seismic activity and earthquake hazards.

Among his many professional accomplishments and publications, the one he held most dear was a map published with his co-authors that carefully located major earthquakes experienced between 1900 and 2007. This important and enduring work offered a view of global seismicity within the context of plate tectonics-an elegant synthesis of data and design that continues to inform and inspire scientists around the world.

Art possessed a strong sense of service to the greater community. He served on the boards of the Rocky Mountain Arts Association and the Boulder County AIDS Project, as well as on the Vestry of St. John's Episcopal Church. At St. John's, he was also a long-time member of the choir and a leader in the Contemplative Evensong services. While his chosen career was as a geophysicist, his first love in science was always astronomy. After his retirement in 2006, Art volunteered for a number of years with the Venus Project at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the goal of which was to map the surface of the cloud-shrouded planet. He was very energized by this work and would entertain his friends with rhapsodic descriptions of it.

Art had a great many friends from a wide variety of backgrounds. He was a wonderful host and delighted in putting together themed dinner parties. His eclectic interests in music always assured that perfectly coordinated CDs were playing in the background. The artwork he collected was similarly eclectic and, of course, invariably chosen in excellent taste. He was a season subscriber to the Denver Center Theatre Company from its inaugural year. He supported many other arts organizations, but he had a special affinity for choral music.

Subtlety and wry wit were the hallmarks of Art's sense of humor. He was a consummate punster. Another of his significant attributes was his love of gardening. His extensive hillside property was beautifully landscaped. When his neighbors began keeping honey bees, he had a pollinator-friendly bed put in next to the hives. After his sister Nancy passed away much too soon, he planted a new garden dedicated to her memory.

Art's greatest love was probably the family into which he was born. He avidly pursued their genealogy. An oft-told tale in the Tarr clan concerned the arrival of his sister Marian when Art was three. Following the much-heralded birth, the baby was brought home. Apparently, she wasn't quite what Artie was expecting, however, and after a week or so the boy demanded of his parents, "take IT back!" Fortunately, they did not cave to young Arthur's impassioned request, and over the years a strong and caring bond grew between the two siblings. Art told many stories about growing up near Pittsburgh in a family with close ties to the Pennsylvania Railroad (pun intended). A solo train trip out to California to work on his aunt's and uncle's apricot farm during the summer of his sixteenth year was seminal in developing his interest in geology as he discovered the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and the majestic Pacific Coast. Uncle Art encouraged the development of intellectual curiosity in his nieces and nephews and eventually in his great-nieces and nephews, particularly if they showed the slightest interest in science.

Art was preceded in death by his parents and his younger sister, Nancy Shoop. He is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Marian and Gene Gentile and by his six nieces and nephews, Elizabeth (TJ) Davis, Carolyn (Tony) Cavallo, Richard (Christine) Gentile, and Nancy's three children, Gary Shoop, Jason Shoop, and Jessica Shoop (Holly Marsh), as well as six great-nephews and nieces and one great-great-nephew. A memorial service will be held at 1 pm on Thursday, July 10 at St. John's Episcopal Church, 1419 Pine St., Boulder, CO. Donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association www.alz.org.

Rest in peace, RT.