John Menke

John Menke Summary Resume

Born 1940, and lived most of my life in Barnesville, MD, a country town about 35 miles NW of Washington. I attended Rensselaer in Physics, then began research work at the Bureau of Standards in DC, then in Gaithersburg, Md. After intense activity in civic/environmental work, I ran for and was elected to the Montgomery County (MD) County Council. Four years later, I ran for a different office and lost, and then went with Mitre Corporation, a non-profit "think tank" in McLean, Va. Four years later (1982), I was appointed to run the Environmental Protection Dept in Montgomery County where I stayed until 1987. I returned to Mitre, then my wife and I started an observatory dome manufacturing business which we ran until we sold it in 2002, when we both retired. since then, I have done volunteer work, while continuing my long term astronomy research (photometry, asteroid occultations, spectroscopy, instrument design, etc. I maintain and operate two observatories in Barnesville, with 11 inch and 18inch instruments, respectively.

Father Heyden Encounter

I was 15 or 16, and had built a succession of telescopes, culminating in a 6in reflector. After visiting Washington with my mother one afternoon in Aug, 1954 (5?), we were leaving the city when I spotted an observatory high on the hill. With much excitement, I asked my mother to drive up the hill until we found it, which we did in late afternoon (330 or so?). She waited in the car, as do profoundly supportive mothers, while I went in to look around.

The door, of course, was not locked, so I went in. Within just a few minutes, a priest appeared and asked could he help me. I gave my name, outlined my astronomy interest, and asked if I could see the observatory. At that point, we were in an entrance hall, with obvious pictures of the Milky Way spread on the floor. Before he did anything, he started asking me questions about astronomy. It was immediately clear to me that he was doing this to gauge my own knowledge. As I remember, he asked perhaps a dozen questions, then launched into discussions with me of astronomy that lasted for at least two hours, always pitching his discussion just a bit above my own knowledge and comprehension: what a challenge and compliment! I had never seen such teaching skill from someone, and seldom since. Of course, that whole time, my mother sat in the car, with no real knowledge of where I was or what I was doing (we trusted ourselves and others better in those days).

Heyden did eventually take me into the main observatory, teaching all the time (and I was sopping it up, all the time). He then took me into the side observatory where we looked at Saturn pretty low in the sky, in the very late afternoon. I thought the image was not as good as my own telescope, but I did not say that!

After several hours, I took my leave from this extraordinary experience, and went out to the car. I was fortunate: my mother had always been supportive and indeed enthusiastic about my scientific interests--and she listened to me talk all the way home.

It was many years later when I read of Father Heyden's death (I think in the NYT). I was finally able to put two and two together, and could identifiy this world renowned priest and teacher of my Georgetown experience, and learned that students across the world had benefited from this remarkable man of science. Fast forward some 63 years or so, I greatly appreciate the work the students are doing now to preserve the memory and work of this incredible man (I hope we will see similar strong support of same by the University!). I wish the best for the Heyden Observatory, and for all those who support such dedication to science, and to the young people who will carry that torch forward.

Submitted by John Menke to Grace Maglieri via email October 28, 2017