Donald L. Hartill

Donald L. Hartill, 86, of Ithaca, passed away peacefully on April 16, 2025, at Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, PA. Born in Chewelah, WA, on March 25, 1939, he was the oldest son of the late Julian and Florence (Bakie) Hartill.

Don completed his Bachelor of Science degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961, then went on to earn his Ph.D. in Physics from California Institute of Technology in 1967. He met his wife to be, Marian Lockhart, at a Never on Friday Dance at the Disney Land Hotel in Anaheim, CA, and they were married four months later in Alhambra, CA, on July 30, 1966. They spent one and one-half years in Geneva, Switzerland, where Don was a postdoctoral fellow at CERN. They moved to Ithaca in September of 1968 where Don had been appointed as Assistant Professor of Physics at Cornell University. Don spent his entire career at Cornell, becoming an Associate Professor of Physics in 1974 and Professor of Physics from 1980 until his retirement in 2016. He also served as chair of the physics department. His research was primarily focused on accelerator physics. Visiting appointments throughout his career included: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center; Osservatoria Astrofisico di Arcetri, Florence, Italy; and SSC Central Design Group, LBL. Don was the Alfred P. Sloan Fellow from 1971-74 and Fellow of the American Physical Society and American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Don and Marian enjoyed traveling together. They spent a year in Palo Alto, CA, in 1975, and a year in Florence, Italy, in 1981-1982. In addition to many trips to the West Coast, they returned to Switzerland and Italy several times. In November of 2013, they went on safari in the Kruger National Park and spent a week in Cape Town, South Africa. Don also enjoyed a couple trips to Antarctica in affiliation with the National Science Foundation.

In addition to his teaching and research, Don devoted much of his time to local government at the Village of Lansing. He was a trustee from 1989-1993 and deputy mayor from 1993-1996 before becoming the village’s fifth and longest serving mayor, a position he held from 1996-2021.

In addition to his parents, Don was preceded in death by his loving wife of 52 years, on February 25, 2018. He is survived by his brother Gerald Hartill (Margaret), sister Bernice Keadle, and Bernice’s children, Randy (Shauna) Keadle and Ronda (Giles) Durano; Marian’s sister, Mary Nahas and her two children, Caesar (Barbara) and Fred; Caesar’s three children Connor, Patrick, and Trevor; Fred’s son Jonathan; and the children of Marian’s deceased brother Charles Lockhart, Patti (Mike) Zeis and Charlene (Jim) Bolta; Charlene’s two children Brieana and Jesse. Children of several close friends are also his “adopted” nieces and nephews, Paul Wilkinson (Jeanne) and family, Paul Gregory (Donna) and family, Emma Gregory, Calvin Thompson (Ionna) and family, Giulia Pacini (Andrea Quilici) and family, Adele O’Rourke (Tim Cumming), and Lakelynn Dake.

A funeral service will be held at 1:00 PM on May 29, 2025 at the Cherokee Memorial Vineyard Chapel followed by interment in Cherokee Memorial Park in Lodi, CA. A memorial service in Ithaca is being planned and details will be announced.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the Jessica Emergency Fund that was set up by Marian for the emergency care of small animals whose owners were unable to pay immediately at the Companion Animal Hospital at Cornell. Please send checks payable to Cornell University to the Jessica Emergency Fund, Cornell Veterinary College, Box 39, Ithaca, NY 14853. You may also call 607.253.3745.