Dr. Jean M.E.G. Oostens

            Dr. Jean M. E. G. Oostens was born in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium, on November 14, 1932 to the late Eugène and Marie Polet Oostens.  He studied at the University of Louvain (Belgium), where he received masters degrees in electrical engineering and physics.  He later earned a doctorate in sciences from the University of Paris (France) for his work on Alpha-Proton Scattering using Saturne. 

            Oostens’ love for research and teaching led him to many laboratories and research universities over a career spanning four decades, including Saclay (France), Brookhaven National Laboratory (New York), Los Alamos (New Mexico), Upsala College (New Jersey), University of California at Los Angeles, Illinois Institute of Technology, Cincinnati University, Lindsey Wilson College, and finally Campbellsville University.  His research centered on nuclear particles and physics, subjects for which he could describe in infinitesimal detail.  In retirement, he remained active in central Kentucky working with science teachers in both homeschools and the public schools, teaching fundamentals of physics and providing experiments for young students.

            Multilingual, he was fluent in French and English, and read Dutch, German, Italian, and Latin.  An enthusiastic self-starter, always with a smile, he easily made friends with everyone he met.  One of his joys was to collect old radios, of which he maintained close to fifty, some dating back to the radio’s earliest days.

            Oostens was married to the former Yolande Wittamer for forty-three years.  She predeceased him in 2017.  The couple had no children.  Surviving him is one sister, Annette Bouffioux; sister-in-law Nadine Oostens; nieces Pascale, Véronique, Manuela, Laurence, and Paula Bouffioux, as well as Muriel and Anne Oostens; and nephews Michael Oostens and Alexandre Wittamer, all in Belgium

Funeral Mass – Monday, February 7, 2022 at 1:00 P.M. at Good Shepherd Catholic Church with Father Patrick Dolan officiating

Burial in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cemetery in Campbellsville

There will be no visitation on Monday

Grissom-Martin Funeral Home in charge of arrangements