Jesse Marion Wampler

Dr. Jesse Marion Wampler was born on October 31, 1936 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He grew up on a farm with two brothers, Fred and Galen, and his Mother and Father, Virginia and John Galen. He went to college at Bridgewater College and received his PhD from Columbia University in 1963.

He met his first wife, Eileen, while he was still at Columbia. They married in 1962 and in 1964 they moved to Atlanta, where he began working at Georgia Tech as an Associate Professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. He remained there until his “retirement” in 2003.

Retirement did not slow him down, however. He continued working, mentoring graduate students, editing articles, and working in W. Crawford Elliott’s lab at Georgia State University until his passing on January 15, 2026. He was an incredibly accomplished man. He was published over 98 times and had almost 10,000 reads of his material, and has been cited in other publications over 1,500 times.

He played golf for years with a regular foursome, and we are sure that they shared many jokes, some corny, some probably inappropriate. Daddy loved a good joke.

After the passing of his first wife in 2001, he married Valerie Brown in 2003. She has been a long time friend of the family since 1965. He is survived by his wife, Valerie; his two daughters, Patty and Jeani, his beloved granddaughter, Adrianna, and his stepson Bill, his wife Jennifer and their family, and anyone that knew him.

He was a brilliant man, a loving man, and an unsurpassed Father, Brother, Son, Granddad, Husband and Friend. His generous spirit will not be forgotten, he was easy to love.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite charity in his name.

The memorial service for this amazing man will be January 31, 2026 at H. M. Patterson and Sons Oglethorpe location at 4550 Peachtree Road, Brookhaven. We will have a reception starting at 9:00 am with family, and the service will start at 10:00 am. We will have a reception after the service at his home.