Gregory Bruce Young

Gregory Bruce Young was better known to his friends as Greg. A quiet man with a great presence. Starting out life on a farm in the Ozarks of southwest Missouri taught him self reliance and how to fix almost anything. His parents Jim and Mary instilled in him the values of loyalty, honor, and family. Greg and his older brother Dave had many adventures growing up and working on the farm and they have continued to be life long buddies.

He majored in Chemistry at Missouri State University where he joined the caving club, took up rock climbing with friends and met his wife, Ellen. At the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (1978-82), Greg studied the new field of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance for his Ph.D. in Chemistry while also having fun hiking, fishing and white water canoeing. This was followed by postdoctoral studies (1982-1985) at the University of California at San Francisco where they were building the first Magnetic Resonance Imagers in the lab of Tom James. While in San Francisco, Greg and Ellen welcomed their son, Ian, into this world as well as adventuring the west coast, skiing and windsurfing.

Greg was an assistant professor (1985-1991) at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio in the Biochemistry Department while Ellen had a postdoc at the University of Cincinnati and their family grew with the addition of their daughter, Erica.

In 1991, Greg came to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to set up a new Nuclear Magnetic Resonance research facility. Under Greg's guidance the NMR research facility grew and became a highly valued asset were he trained graduate students and postdocs on the intricacies of NMR and protein dynamics and structure in solution.

After his son, Ian, helped found the Orange High FIRST Robotics team in 2001, Greg became a founding mentor and active supporter of the team. His daughter, Erica and son both were members and it was a great source of connection with their Dad. Encouraging the students' love of engineering, programming and robotics brought Greg joy for 25 years. He and Ellen were extremely proud when both Ian and Erica graduated with Electrical Engineering degrees.

Greg was a true renaissance man. He kept a plentiful garden, rode horses, roasted his own coffee, tinkered in electronics of all types, and felled trees.  He was a woodworker and metal worker. He was renovating a mountain home and made pottery with Ellen that he sold at the local farmers market. He and Ellen led a life full of fun and adventure together.

Greg was a wonderful husband, father and friend. He will be greatly missed by his wife of 47 years, Ellen Young and their children and grandchildren: Ian and Elinor (son and daughter-in-law), Erica and Chris (daughter and son-in-law) and Elliot, Quinn and Orin (Erica and Chris's children ages 9, 6 and 4). Dave and Elaine Young (brother and sister-in-law) and Jeremy and Neil (nephews) and their spouses and children. Richard and Janice Farr (brother-in-law and sister-in-law) and Rebecca and Amy (nieces) and their spouses and children. John and Sue Farr (brother-in-law and sister-in-law) and Wendy and Rachel (nieces) and their spouses and children.

Funeral services will be held on October 29th, 2026, with a graveside service in the morning and a memorial/reception in the afternoon. Friends and family are welcome to come to either or both, as they wish.

The graveside service will be at 11AM at Bluestem Conservation Cemetery, 1900 Hurdle Mills Rd, Cedar Grove, NC 27231.

The memorial will be at 2PM at Hillsborough United Methodist Church, 130 West Tryon St., Hillsborough, NC 27278 with a reception to follow.

Flowers may be sent to the memorial or a donation made to your favorite charity.  Flowers cannot be sent to the graveside service.