Kirk Thomas Arndt, an engineer and sailor who contributed to the discovery of the Higgs Boson and crossed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by sailboat, died Wednesday. He was 59.
He passed away while sailing a Wet Wednesday race with dear friends in his home port of Santa Barbara.
An alumnus of Santa Barbara High School, Kirk attended the University of Hawaii and Santa Barbara City College. He graduated in 1991 from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a degree in Physics that developed into an illustrious career.
Working with CLEO and the CMS group, Kirk was a mechanical engineering lead on the Large Hadron Collider, and a contributor to the discovery of the elusive Higgs Boson particle in 2012.
Kirk was a lifelong sailor. In addition to the world’s two largest oceans, he crossed countless bays and lakes as a racer, and he cruised with his family.
He was born June 22nd 1959 to Beverley "Boots" Arndt and the late Don Arndt in Santa Barbara, California.
Kirk is survived by Gale Lockwood, his wife of 28 years, their two children, Gus and Haley, his mother, Boots, and brothers Kevin, Kent and Eric. The family & two dogs are Izzy and Jelly.
Memorial services are set for Sunday, June 16 at Santa Barbara Harbor with a sail out in his memory at 10:00AM and a celebration to follow at SBYC at 12:00PM.
All gifts and donations can be made, in his name, to the Santa Barbara Youth Sailing Foundation at https://sbysf.org/donate