Form­er HAAL­SA Pre­si­dent Mich­ael Jeffer­son died on 22 No­vem­ber, 2022. Michael was a mem­ber of the HAALSA executive from 2004 to 2017. He served ably for two terms each as Sec­re­tary, then Vice Pre­si­dent, and finally President (2008-2009 and 2009-2010).

Michael also served for many years as our cor­res­pon­dent with the Bay Area Science and Engi­neer­ing Fair (BASEF) and as our representative at BASEF`s annual award cere­mony, where he delighted in presenting our da Vinci (Sci­ence) award to the winning stu­dent. In addi­tion, he was always ready to step in as a judge for that award when­ever we found ourselves with too few science-project judges.

Michael was born in Hamilton in 1945. By the time he was 11 he had developed a strong interest in space and astro­no­my. That led to his par­ti­ci­pa­tion in the first BASEF in 1961. Michael has provided a brief and typically modest account of his childhood, that first BASEF project, and his later long-standing involvement with BASEF, in an essay that BASEF has made available online.

After completing high school, obtaining a BA degree, and graduating from Hamilton Teachers' College, Michael began a long and successful career as an ele­men­tary school teacher with a special interest in science clubs and science fairs in the Hamilton-Wenthworth region. Before retiring in 1999 he some­how found time, in the 1980s, to help launch the Hamilton Amateur Astro­no­mers (HAA). He served on the HAA council for many years. In that same decade he learned to tap dance, becom­ing a very accom­plish­ed dancer! The notice in The Hamilton Spectator on 30 November summarizes his passion for dance rather nicely.

Michael's warm smile, his modesty, his curiosity, and his enthusiasm for students, astronomy, BASEF, and HAALSA, are missed very much.