John Butler Pickett

Dr. John Butler Pickett was born in Madison, TN on December 7, 1939 to Gladys Ileta Richardson and Marshall Pickett. He died June 15, 2025 at Aiken Regional Hospital from complications of septic shock. He leaves his wife of 40 years, Carol M. Jantzen, and a daughter Margaret Pickett and her husband, Rob O’Neill, and three grandchildren. John was predeceased by his parents and his brother, William Pickett.

John attended Madison, TN high school. He received his B.A. in Chemistry from Vanderbilt University in 1962 and his Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Georgia in 1970. He worked for E. I. Dupont de Nemours and Co. at the Chattanooga textile fibers plant from 1962-64, and 1969-77, when he transferred to the Savannah River Site (SRS).

As a Principal Technical Advisor, Dr. Pickett was most involved with environmental and regulatory activities in the Facilities Decontamination and Decommissioning Program (FDD), Engineering Department at the Savannah River Site. His specialties included uranium chemistry, (precipitation, wastewater treatment, and biological toxicity) and regulatory compliance (

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Clean Water Act). With Dupont, and subsequently WSRC, he contributed to the stabilization of hazardous, radioactive, and mixed (hazardous & radioactive) wastes in both cementitious and vitrified waste forms. He was the author of the first “Delisting Petition” for a vitrified mixed waste approved by the EPA. John has authored or coauthored more than 50 open literature publications, and more than 75 Dupont or WSRC documents. He is the coauthor on 7 patents. He was awarded two George Westinghouse Corporate (Gold) Signature awards for technical excellence by Westinghouse Electric Corp.

He has been a life member of the American Chemical Society, and a member of ASTM, and the American Nuclear Society at various times. He has been a member of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS) since 1990, affiliated with the Nuclear and Environmental Technology Division. Since his wife was the first female president of the ceramic engineering society in 1997, he was the first male spouse.

John was an avid white-water canoeist and was the 2nd person to run the rapids on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in an open canoe. He paddled close to 100 different rivers. In his later years he joined the Aiken Bridge Club (ABC) and enjoyed playing duplicate bridge twice a week. He also enjoyed several National Geographic cruises to Alaska and the Galapagos and trips to South America (Argentina) and South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

A visitation will be held from 3-5 PM on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at Shellhouse Funeral Home, Inc., 924 Hayne Ave., Aiken, SC 29801.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Albrecht ASPCA in Aiken (https://www.letlovelive.org) or Save the Elephants (https://www.savetheelephants.org).

SHELLHOUSE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 924 HAYNE AVE., AIKEN, SC 29801