Obituary

Prof Mel Stauffer (USask Emeritus Professor) passed away suddenly on Saturday, 23 November 2024 at his home in Saskatoon with his wife Shan by his side. He was 87 years old.

Mel grew up in Alberta, the son of a travelling teacher. A keen student, Mel obtained his MSc from the University of Alberta and his PhD from the Australian National University in Canberra. He also did a post doc at UBC  before joining the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan in 1965. At USask, Mel taught and conducted research on structural geology for many years before his retirement in 2005. 

As an Emeritus Professor, Mel carried on teaching regularly as a sessional lecturer for introductory historical and physical geology courses at USask. His sprightly nature and humour were memorable for generations of students. Mel had a deep and enduring research interest in meteorites and tektites. He recently donated part of his personal collection to the USask Museum of Natural Sciences, and also produce a series of videos with the museum on this topic. He enjoyed many expeditions hunting for meteorites through Saskatchewan and Alberta; just the week before he passed, he was scheming to go out hunting with fellow meteorite lovers! Over the past few years, he was actively collaborating with USask Professor Sam Butler on project work studying the shapes of tektites and they recently published some important new contributions in that area. 

He leaves his wife Shan, their large blended family with many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, as well as many friends, colleagues, and students to mourn. He lived every day to the fullest and will be greatly missed.

Mel's family have posted a beautiful obituary at dignitymemorial.com.

Guestbook 

We invite people to share their condolences with Mel's wife Shan and their family in the guestbook. You can also submit their memories and photos for inclusion in the memorial book project.

Read the guestbook.

Memories of Mel book project

Mel was an amazing human being who touched the lives of countless people through his teaching and friendship. We are producing a book of memories, with stories submitted by Mel's friends and colleagues in honour of Mel. If you have stories to share,  of his teaching, friendship, or adventures, we welcome your contributions. As we mourn his passing we celebrate our experiences over the years and we hope you will contribute your memories to this project. If you prefer to share your memories in other forms (art, poetry, photography) they are also very welcome. If you prefer to share recollections in a chat over Zoom or the phone, drop us an email and we can set up a time to do an interview.

You can submit your contributions through the guestbook, via email to joyce.mcbeth@uregina.ca, or by post: Mel Memorial Project, c/o Chantal Strachan-Crossman, Department of Geological Sciences, USask, 114-114 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7H 1E2.

Scholarship

There will be a USask scholarship set up in Mel's honour, entitled the "The Mel Stauffer Memorial Fund". This fund, established in memory of Mel, will support students who are enrolled in experiential-learning courses (such as field schools and field-based courses) in the Department of Geological Sciences in the College of Arts and Science, University of Saskatchewan.

We will share a link for you to use to contribute to the fund very soon; if you are interested in contributing please watch this space for that link and/or contact Jim Lee (Department Head, USask Department of Geological Sciences) to register your interest.

Links to news stories about Mel 

Uniquely USask: A priceless treasure trove of shooting stars 

Meteorites - Museum of Natural Sciences | University of Saskatchewan – In this are several videos of Mel giving lectures on Tektites (not meteorites!), Meteors, and Meteorite on the web.