Brian Louks
1958 - 2026

Brian H. Louks, physicist, devoted husband and father, and a man who never met a stranger, died on May 30, 2026. He was 68 years old.

Brian was born on March 13, 1958, in Saginaw, Michigan, the fourth of six children raised in the family’s home on Mershon Street. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Saginaw Valley State University in 1982 and went on to earn a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1993 - an institution where he would also build the defining work of his professional life.

Brian spent forty years as a physicist and ballistic weapons systems analyst at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, contributing his expertise to the defense of the nation through work on nuclear submarine systems. His career reflected his considerable technical gifts and a deep commitment to the work. He spent four decades at the same organization, a rarity.

Brian was a force of nature. Anyone who spent time with Brian knew that he operated at full volume - curious, opinionated, warm, and constitutionally incapable of walking past another human being without striking up a conversation. He talked to people in airports, in stores, in parking lots, in bathrooms. It didn’t matter if he’d known them for thirty years or thirty seconds. He was deeply interested in people and their stories.

His curiosity extended well beyond his professional field. He read serious scientific publications for pleasure, drawn to questions about biology, the universe, and the nature of the physical world. He was a student of history, particularly the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War, and both World Wars, and he could discuss any of them at length, which he often did. He had a strong moral code and a sharp sense of justice, and he was not shy about either.

Brian loved aviation with a passion. Inspired by an uncle he deeply admired, he earned his pilot’s license at seventeen and flew for several years. That love of flight never left him. He was also a lifelong and serious Elvis fan, a Star Trek devotee across multiple series with a collection to prove it, and an avid firearms enthusiast holding the position of Treasurer of the APL Gun Club for many years.

He cared about the environment before it was common to do so, loading the family into the car to drive recyclables to the county center in the years before curbside pickup existed. He was an early adopter of technology. The family had a camcorder in the 1980s, an Atari, and a PC with a modem before most people had home computing. He documented family life on video with dedication, and those tapes are now, in retrospect, a gift.

As a husband, Brian was devoted. He centered his wife Dorothy’s needs and desires with consistency and generosity, and he loved her demonstrably. As a father, he was always present. He spent long stretches of summers with his family in Cocoa Beach, Florida during work trips to the area, and those summers produced memories his children carry with them still. He threw his kids around in the pool - “missiles” went up into the air and “torpedoes” went horizontally through the water - and when they were small, they went flying high. It was great fun.

Brian is survived by his wife of 48 years, Dorothy (Dort) Louks; his daughter, Martha Louks, and granddaughter Theodora Williams; his son, Aaron Louks, and daughter-in-law Shannon Kropkowski; his brothers Greg Louks (Julie), Scott Louks (Sheri), and Robert Louks (Melanie); his brother-in-law Malcolm Cormier, widower of Cathy; his sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law Laura Byers (Randolph Flechsig) and Herb Byers (Pam); his aunt Eileen Partlo; his cousins Craig Partlo (Judi) and Rodney Partlo (Susan); and his nieces and nephews AnnJanette Toth (Matt), Teresa Anderson (Dale), Krysten Cormier, Carl Louks (Lauren), Carolyn Peeler