Regina Lipman-Troxel

I met my wife Jean on an online dating service, and, after our third date, we knew we were in love. When I told her I planned to move to New Mexico to be an astronomer, she told me she wanted to come with me and support my efforts. She also insisted that we live in Taos.

After a few years of observing the skies with my telescope on our back porch, Jean persuaded me to purchase the acre next to our house and construct a real observatory there. She handled the landscaping, selecting the plants and bushes and charting the gravel pathways that led to the observatory. I remember after being in the observatory much of the night, returning to the house at sunrise, when Jean would be in the kitchen fixing breakfast while the two dogs ran around the floor waiting for her to drop something. (She was always cooking something, and personally knew several chefs in the Taos area.)

She was born August 7, 1944 in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from Catholic High School in 1961 at the age of 16. She received her diploma in Nursing at City College of Baltimore in 1972. For the next 30 years, she worked as Director of Nursing for multiple nursing homes in Maryland.

She is survived by her sister, Lynda, of Forest Hill, Maryland, her daughter and son-in-law, Michele and Troy Shane, two grandchildren, Briar and Lexa Rose Shane, and a great-granddaughter, Harley Rose Shane.

She was a frequent contributor to St. Jude's Childrens Research Hospital and Shriner's Hospital for Children. She will also be leaving a significant donation to the University of New Mexico's School of Nursing in Taos.