Forever in the skies he loved

Asteroid named in honor of late YSU alumnus, planetarium producer, originally published at Tue, June 2, 2009, Vindicator, Youngstown, Ohio

By Harold Gwin

YOUNGSTOWN — Richard Pirko’s name will live on forever in the skies he loved.

An asteroid has been named in honor of the late Youngstown State University alumnus and former show producer and technician of YSU’s Ward Beecher Planetarium.
It’s somewhat of a rare honor, said Warren Young, recent interim chairman of the YSU Physics and Astronomy Department.
Asteroids are traditionally named after family members of the astronomers who find them, he explained, adding that he doesn’t know anyone else who’s had an asteroid named for him.
Asteroids are planet-like bodies measuring between a fraction of a mile and 500 miles in diameter.
The asteroid named for Pirko is in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and was discovered at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz., in June 2000, as part of an ongoing survey, Young said. Formerly known as Asteroid 2000 LS36, the International Astronomical Union has officially named it Asteroid Pirko.
Young said Pirko had a friend, Rob Landis, who works at NASA who contacted astronomers at Lowell and asked that an asteroid be named for Pirko, and the observatory agreed. This particular asteroid is believed to be between one and two miles across.
“This is a fitting tribute to a very dedicated educator,” Young said. “He was an amazing person with a unique combination of talents. We feel his loss every day.”
Pirko’s passion for astronomy exposed thousands of people to the wonders of the universe, Young said.
Pirko worked at the planetarium for more than 30 years writing, producing and presenting planetarium shows to public school classes, college classes and the general public.
He died of an apparent heart attack Oct. 15 at the University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center in Chardon. He was 55.
“He was a very important person to the university and our department,” Young said.
The Astronomy and Physics Department is still planning to erect a sundial on campus as a tribute to Pirko.
Pirko liked sundials and did classes on them, incorporating them in the planetarium weekend programs.
The department announced in October that it was raising funds for the Rick Pirko Memorial Sundial, which it hopes to erect just outside the planetarium doors.
Young said the funds are now in place and the department is awaiting approval of its plans from the campus beautification committee to proceed.
Pirko was a licensed pilot and as a local organizer of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles program, provided hundreds of children with their first flight, according to a university spokesman.
He was also a counselor for the Astronomy and Aviation Merit Badges for the Boy Scouts of America, the spokesman said.

Contact Harold Gwin or gwin@vindy.com

More on the asteroid elsewhere on this blog:   There's an asteroid 22105 called "Rick" now

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"Thanks, Rick"

Bill Hazlett wrote a heartfelt memoriam at http://billhazlett.blogspot.com/2008/10/thanks-rick.html on October 15 on his blog As You Like It

Every morning I rise at 5am. I head down the stairs, through the dining room and into the kitchen. I put on a pot of coffee and then I step out on my back porch and look up at the stars. These days Orion is back. Straight overhead. Lower and to the left is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. A couple of years ago I didn't appreciate any of this. I didn't appreciate a clear sky at 5:15 in the morning. Then my wife and I started going to the Ward Beecher Planetarium almost every Saturday night. It was a cheap date. And we were hooked.

The major reason we kept going was a man named Rick Pirko. Rick presented most of the planetariums programs. He made everything that he was interested in very easy to understand. Once my wife and I became "regulars", (as Rick referred to the small core group that showed up most of the time) he would often stay and talk to us after the show. He would ask our opinion about different programs and about the planetarium in general. It was easy to see that he loved what he was doing. And it seemed to the casual observer that he could do almost anything.
I remember last Halloween at the Oakland Performing Arts Center the Zhou was performing music from Rocky Horror Picture Show. Rick was in the audience with his camera. When the sound system went on the blink, Rick jumped on stage and fixed it.

But Rick's lasting impression on me will always be in the stars. I don't know much about astronomy but what I do know Rick and the crew at the Ward Beecher Planetarium taught me. I will be forever grateful. Rick Pirko passed from this life this morning. He is the same age as I am. His final lesson for me is to see my own mortality as clearly as Orion on a clear winter night.

In my Buddhist practice everyday I recite "The Foundation of all Perfections" by Je Tsongkapa. One of the verses says that "Spirit quivers in flesh like a bubble in water" I will miss you Rick.
Tomorrow morning when I rise at 5am and walk down the stairs and through the dining room into the kitchen, I will put on the coffee and step outside and look up at the sky. And it is then that I will remember Rick. And every morning thereafter. Thank you.

Happy to click and give

This is something Rick took delight in: taking some unusual shots and hours (or minutes) later, handing out prints. This was last summer's Mahoning Valley Astronomical Society's picnic, from a story in their newsletter, The Meteorite

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GLPA October 1995

"In recognition of professional achievement and outstanding contributions to our organization, the Great Lakes Planetarium Association hereby confers upon Richard G. Pirko the rank of Fellow Of GLPA conferred 27th day of October 1995:" (click to enlarge)
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