Karl Simon Krughoff, 46, of Tucson, AZ passed away peacefully at home on January 13, 2023, surrounded

by his loving family. Simon, the son of Tom Krughoff and Noell Krughoff nee Worland, was born in

Greeley, CO on March 2, 1976. He is survived by his wife, Virginia Staron, and sons Sam (15) and Owen

(12). Other survivors include his parents, sisters Laura Krughoff and Emily Jordan (husband Rusty) and

brother Stephen Krughoff (wife Lucy Huffman).

Simon attended elementary and high school in Morristown, IN and graduated from the Indiana Academy

of Sciences, Mathematics, and Humanities in Muncie, IN. He earned a bachelor’s degree from DePauw

University and a PhD from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Maine.

As a post-doc he was one of three astronomers to build and release Google Sky. He joined the University

of Washington in Seattle as a staff scientist and was instrumental in developing plans for the Large

Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). In 2017 he and his family moved to Tucson where he was hired by The

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). There Simon was a valued member of an

international network of scientists developing the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, an outgrowth of the LSST

project. This astronomical observatory is currently under construction in Chile and expects first light in

2024.

Simon was known by family, friends, and colleagues as kind and supportive, witty and fun-loving, smart

and generous, but most importantly as a devoted husband and loving father. He will be missed by all.

Send to someone

Share this obituary with others

https://everloved.com/life-of/simon-krughoff/obituary/

Copy