John K. Prentice

Article Last Updated; Thursday, January 21, 2010 12:00AM

Prentice

John K. Prentice, a former Durango resident, died Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010, in Boulder from head injuries suffered in an accident a few days earlier. He was 55.

Mr. Prentice was born Oct. 4, 1954, in Albuquerque to Glenn and Evelyn Prentice. Glenn Prentice was a 1941 graduate of Durango High School.

Even before he graduated from Albuquerque's Sandia High School, Mr. Prentice was tracking satellites for the Smithsonian. Over the next 40 years he would explore a broad spectrum of scientific questions, pursuing projects in computational physics, quantum mechanics, medicine, biological physics and geophysics.

Another highlight of his teenage years was his participation in the 1972 International Science Fair, where he won a variety of awards for his project about calculating satellite orbitals. He continued as an avid science-fair supporter throughout his adult life.

Mr. Prentice studied mathematics and physics at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he completed his Ph.D. in quantum scattering theory in 1992. His professional career began almost 20 years earlier when he was hired at the Air Force Weapons Lab on Kirtland Air Force Base in the mid-1970s to develop computer codes to model solid hydrodynamics phenomenology.

Mr. Prentice also worked a computational physicist for a number of research and development companies in Albuquerque through the 1980s.

In 1981 he married Mary Z. Fuka, also a physicist. Together they founded Quetzal Computational Associates in 1992 to provide scientific consulting services to national laboratories, the military and private industry. They moved the company to Durango in 1996, where it was reorganized in 2000 as Quetzal Biomedical, Inc., an investor-funded medical technology startup.

The couple lived in Durango from 1996 to 2003, a period Mr. Prentice regarded as the most satisfying of his career. In 2003, the couple moved the company to Boulder. Mr. Prentice led Quetzal as CEO to develop new pacing therapies and devices for treating congestive heart failure.

Mr. Prentice's interest turned to the geosciences in 2005 when he was recruited to direct the Boulder-based scientific research and development for Terralliance, an innovative technology-driven exploration startup. He also enjoyed teaching as a lecturer during that time in the University of Colorado's Department of Applied Mathematics.

Most recently, Mr. Prentice founded TriplePoint Physics LLC, a consulting venture focused on developing new technologies for geothermal energy exploration and development.

Mr. Prentice also loved the outdoors, participating in mountain, rock and ice climbing. He ascended peaks in Colorado, Mexico, the Pacific Northwest and South America.

“We terribly miss his fearless optimism, the constant stream of ideas, conversation, e-mail correspondence, wit, enthusiasm for what might lie around the next corner and mentorship and support of our dearest projects and ambitions," his wife said.

Mr. Prentice is survived by his wife, Mary Z. Fuka, of Boulder; parents Glenn and Evelyn Prentice, of Albuquerque; brothers Glenn Prentice of Portland, Maine, and Steve Prentice of Albuquerque; a niece and four nephews.

An online memorial, open to all visitors, is being established at www.johnkprentice.org. An informal gathering to celebrate his life is planned for the summer.

Those who want to honor him with a donation in his name may do to through the education-outreach programs at the University of New Mexico at http://unm.securesites.net/ give-online/fdn; the Southern Utah Wilderness Association at www.suwa.org or the Colorado Science & Engineering Fair at www.csef.colostate.edu.