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<p><em>Philip Walter Pellette</em> passed away on June 8, 2024 while hiking in Yosemite National Park. Though he was taken far too soon, those who knew him can take solace that he lived a deeply loving and passionate life and died surrounded by the natural beauty he loved. </p>
<p>Phil was born in Amityville, NY to Philip and Margot Pellette and grew up in Las Cruces and Los Alamos, NM, graduating from Los Alamos High School in 1977. He received his Bachelor of Science in nuclear engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY in 1981, graduating in the top 10 percent of his class. After serving in the Army Corps of Engineers in Nuremberg, Germany, he returned to the U.S., where he took a job at Texas Utilities’ Comanche Peak nuclear power plant and married Leonore Schatz. During their years in Texas, the young couple were soon busy raising three children. Phil was then hired by Los Alamos National Labs (LANL), and the family moved to White Rock, NM. He worked at LANL from 1994 to 2005, supporting delivery of the lab’s mission through excellence in operations. He started his lab career as a deputy facility manager in materials science and technology before becoming a group leader supporting operations of the critical experiments facility (now the National Criticality Experiments Research Center at the Nevada National Security Site) with his technical expertise and strong leadership. He was later deputy division leader of operations for the Nonproliferation and International Security Division.</p>
<p>A few years after his first marriage ended in divorce, he married Lara Telle, also of Los Alamos and a LANL employee. The couple later moved to Livermore, CA, where they both worked for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for nearly two decades. Most recently they were living in Midway, UT in a home they built together in preparation for their retirement. Over the course of his career, Phil earned a Master of Engineering in waste engineering and a Master of Science in mechanical engineering. He retired from his position of deputy principal associate director of operations for weapons and complex integration at LLNL in early 2022. He didn’t seem to know how to retire because, after a brief period, he began working on the LLNL LOTO CAP project part-time, which was the reason he was in California upon his passing. </p>
<p>Phil’s passion for sport and the outdoors was the glue that bound the extended Pellette family together. He coached generations of young soccer players in Texas, New Mexico, California, and Utah. He taught his children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren to ski and was a ski instructor at Pajarito Mountain Ski area. He enjoyed planning hiking trips and was always there to celebrate graduations and milestone birthdays. But his greatest passion was skiing, and, with their recent relocation to Utah, he was looking forward to achieving his goal of skiing 100 days per year. </p>
<p>Phil was beloved by so many family members, friends, and co-workers. He was affectionately known as a “Philosopher” by his extended family, who relished his ability to discuss any topic and hold space for every point of view. He was a seeker of knowledge, truth, the meaning of life, and self-improvement. That hunger for self-improvement inspired family competition in the New York Times’ “Crossword,” “Wordle,” “Spelling Bee,” and “Flashback.” Phil was always cracking a “dad joke,” and his limerick writing skills were legendary.</p>
<p>Philip Walter Pellette is survived by his wife Lara Telle and his three children: Patrick, Michelle, and Ryan Pellette; as well as by two stepsons, Josh and Caleb Montoya. He is also mourned by his six grandchildren and his siblings: Andrea, Denise, and Thomas; with their spouses and children. Phil was a favorite nephew, cousin, uncle, and friend, and his absence will be felt by many. </p>
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