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Hayn, Carl H. (Father)

October 21, 2014

Jesuit Father Carl H. Hayn, longtime professor of physics at Santa Clara University, died on Oct. 21, 2014, at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California.

Hayn, Carl H.

Jesuit Father Carl H. Hayn, longtime professor of physics at Santa Clara University, died on Oct. 21, 2014, at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California. He was 98 and the oldest living member of the California Province of the Society of Jesus.

Fr. Hayn was born July 13, 1916, in Los Angeles and graduated from Loyola High School. He entered the Jesuit novitiate at Los Gatos in September 1933. Following studies at Gonzaga University, he taught physics and mathematics at Loyola High School, 1940-43, and engineering physics at the Army training program at Loyola University, 1943-44. Theological studies were made at Alma College, Los Gatos, and Fr. Hayn was ordained a priest in 1947.

Fr. Hayn received his Ph.D. in physics from St. Louis University in 1955, where he worked in experimental solid state physics. Subsequently, he engaged in post-doctoral work at the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies and pursued further studies in nuclear physics at Washington State University. He served as president of the Northern California/Nevada Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers and published articles in The American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher.

His lifetime (and much beloved) ministry was in the physics classroom at Santa Clara University beginning in 1955. He taught fulltime for more than 50 years, retiring in 2006 when partial hearing loss made classroom teaching more difficult. Devotedly and enthusiastically, however, he continued his daily trip to the physics lab to tutor students one-on-one and to spend time with his dear colleagues. Fr. Hayn’s regular pastoral ministry included daily 6:00 a.m. Mass celebrated in the Mission Church and priestly service to the Carmelite Sisters of Santa Clara, a community of which he was very fond. After his retirement, he generously made himself available to the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery for funeral and burial services. In 2012, he moved to Sacred Heart Jesuit Center for ministry of prayer.

Fr. Hayn’s twin sister, Sister Mary Carolyn Hayn, CSJ, predeceased him.