John Herbert Pitts was born on April 2, 1932 in Spokane, WA, and died after a brief illness on June 18, 2020 in Oakland, CA. He is survived by his children Liane Benedict (Welden Benedict) and David Pitts (Christine Grosh), and grandchildren Helen Wheeler (Anthony Wheeler) and Nora Pitts (Sando Hamilton).

John served in the United States Air Force, earned engineering degrees from Stanford in 1955, the University of California, Berkeley in 1958 and his Ph.D in 1976 from the University of California, Davis.

His professional life included positions at Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, and as a consultant for General Atomics, but the largest part of his career was spent as a mechanical and nuclear engineer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1959 until his retirement in 1995. He was particularly proud of his idea for the Cascade fusion power reactor, which is intended as a means for harnessing the energy from a laser fusion reactor.

John viewed the world with a sense of humor and curiosity. He was appreciated by all for his outgoing personality, as well as his love of family, nature, travel, the arts (particularly painting and music), bicycling, and the East Bay Regional Parks. He participated in many community organizations including: the Livermore Planning Commission, Friends of the Livermore Library, Lab Retirees Association, Valley Study Group, Sons in Retirement, Livermore Hillhikers, and Del Valle Fine Arts.

John and his wife, Carol Pitts, lived in Livermore, CA from 1959 until 2017, when they moved to Piedmont Gardens in Oakland, CA, where they enjoyed people and numerous activities.

Private graveside service in Monterey, CA. A celebration of life may be planned for a later date when it is safe to do so. Any announcement will be made at Crippen & Flynn Carlmont Chapel, Belmont, CA.

An online site for reminiscing about John and his wife Carol is johnandcarolpitts.online

Memorial Donations to any of the following are welcome:
The Nature Conservancy, https://www.nature.org/en-us/
Oakland Public Education Fund, https://www.oaklandedfund.org
Del Valle Fine Arts, http:// www.delvallefinearts.org