Maurice J. Katz

Maurice Joseph Katz (Mauri), born May 17, 1937 in Brooklyn, NY, passed away June 20, 2019 at his home in Tesuque, NM at the age of 82.

Mauri earned his undergraduate and masters degrees as well as his doctorate from Columbia University. He worked as a nuclear physicist at Los Alamos Laboratory in the 1960s where he developed a lifelong love for New Mexico. Mauri also spent time with IBM in Switzerland, the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. as well as with the State Department in Vienna, Austria. Returning to New Mexico in the 1990s, Mauri and his wife Betty made their permanent home in Tesuque on land he bought as a young man.

Mauri's passions during his life included flying private planes, driving his Alfa Romeo in the Los Alamos hills, the Little Theatre, the Oppenheimer Committee, attending the Santa Fe Opera, and being an active member of the Jewish communities in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Los Alamos. As a child he earned the rank of Eagle Scout, something he was proud of for the rest of his life.

He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Elizabeth Katz, his sister Gloria Katz in Brooklyn, three step children and seven grandchildren. Donations in Mauri's memory can be made to The Oppenheimer Committee Scholarship Fund in Los Alamos.

Burial services at Fairview Memorial Park will be held at 11am June 24. A celebration of Mauri's life will be held in Los Alamos at a future date. 

Daniels Family Funeral Services

7601 Wyoming Blvd NE

Albuquerque, NM 87109

505-821-0010