Editing J. Robert Oppenheimer (section)

== Death ==
In late 1965, Oppenheimer was diagnosed with [[Head and neck cancer|throat cancer]], likely caused by [[Chain smoking|chain smoking cigarettes]] for much of his life.<ref name="Tucker">{{cite web |last1=Tucker |first1=Neely |title=Oppenheimer: The Library's Collection Chronicles His Life |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2023/07/oppenheimer-the-librarys-collection-chronicles-his-life/ |website=Library of Congress Blogs |date=July 20, 2023 |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=15 August 2024}}</ref> After inconclusive surgery, he underwent unsuccessful radiation treatment and [[chemotherapy]] late in 1966. On February 18, 1967, he died in his sleep at his home in Princeton, aged 62 years.<ref name="nyt-obit">{{cite news |title=J. Robert Oppenheimer, Atom Bomb Pioneer, Dies |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1967/02/19/issue.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 19, 1967 |via=TimesMachine |url-access=subscription |pages=1, 66 |access-date=August 19, 2023 |archive-date=September 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921154808/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1967/02/19/issue.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A memorial service was held a week later at [[Alexander Hall (Princeton University)|Alexander Hall]] on the campus of [[Princeton University]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=585–588}}</ref> The service was attended by 600 of his scientific, political, and military associates, including Bethe, Groves, Kennan, Lilienthal, Rabi, Smyth, and Wigner. His brother Frank and the rest of his family were there, as was the historian [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.]], the novelist [[John O'Hara]], and [[George Balanchine]], the director of the [[New York City Ballet]]. Bethe, Kennan and Smyth gave brief eulogies.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2005|pp=351–352}}</ref> Oppenheimer's body was cremated and his ashes placed in an urn, which Kitty dropped into the sea within sight of the [[Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint John]] beach house.<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|p=588}}</ref>

In October 1972, Kitty died from an intestinal infection complicated by a [[pulmonary embolism]]. She was 62.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mrs. J. Robert Oppenheimer, 62, Nuclear Physicist's Widow, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/29/archives/mrs-j-robert-oppenheimer-62i-nuclear-physicists-widow-dies.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |agency=Reuters |date=October 28, 1972 |access-date=August 18, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730002549/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/29/archives/mrs-j-robert-oppenheimer-62i-nuclear-physicists-widow-dies.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Oppenheimer's ranch in New Mexico was then inherited by their son Peter, and the beach property was inherited by their daughter Katherine "Toni" Oppenheimer Silber. Toni's two marriages ended in divorce. She obtained a temporary position as a translator at the [[United Nations]] in 1969, but the position required an FBI security clearance, which never came through due to the old charges against her father. She moved to the family beach house on Saint John and committed suicide by hanging there in 1977.<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|pp=590–591}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Wolverton|2008|p=298}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://oldtowncrier.com/2014/07/01/oppenheimers-legacy-on-st-john/ |title=Oppenheimer's Legacy on St. John |newspaper=Old Town Crier |date=July 1, 2014 |first=Jaime |last=Elliott |access-date=January 11, 2018 |archive-date=January 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110054647/https://oldtowncrier.com/2014/07/01/oppenheimers-legacy-on-st-john/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She left the property to "the people of Saint John."<ref>{{harvnb|Bird|Sherwin|2005|p=591}}</ref> The house was built too close to the coast and was destroyed by a hurricane. {{as of|2007}}, the Virgin Islands Government maintained a Community Center nearby.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=May 22, 2008 |url=http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Gibney%20Beach.htm |title=Gibney Beach |publisher=St. John's Beach Guide |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013000816/http://stjohnbeachguide.com/Gibney%20Beach.htm |archive-date=October 13, 2007 }}</ref>