obits

In the October 24 obituary for Ted Knowlton, the name of his daughter, Polly Knowlton Cockett, was misspelled. The error has been corrected in the original article.

Ted Knowlton

(Editor’s note: this obituary was submitted directly to the Lincoln Squirrel by Polly Knowlton Cockett, Ted Knowlton’s daughter.)

Edward “Ted” Almy Knowlton, 92, of Lincoln died peacefully on October 2 with his special dog, Boomer, at his feet and his wife of 33 years, Anne “Annie” (Preston) Raker Knowlton, by his side.

Ted was born to Edward “Ned” Allen Knowlton and Leila May (Osborne) Knowlton of Holyoke, Mass., on August 26, 1926 in Westerly, R.I. The family summered in Groton Long Point, Conn., where they owned the Duck, a 24-foot open sailboat which Ted skippered for many years. He attended public schools in Holyoke through grade 10, completed school at Phillips Exeter Academy, and enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1944.

At Yale University, Ted lived in Branford College and graduated in 1950 with a B.S. in industrial administration, a combination of engineering and economics. In 1951, Ted married the late Marianne (Heimburg) Knowlton, and they and their four children lived in Winchester, Mass. for many years.

Following a variety of engineering jobs, including developing an innovative line of products, six with patents, Ted gained electronics experience, capping his career at NEC Electronics by developing a floating-point math package for computer controllers. Combining his computer and mechanical skills, as well as his musical pursuits, Ted built and developed a computer-controlled precision piano tuner—with the prototype gracing his grand piano in the living room for many a year.

Throughout his life, Ted was deeply engaged in music as a jazz pianist, which built on early classical training followed by self-taught jazz improvisation during high school and university, and regular gigs for the remainder of his life, including teaching at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He cherished the myriad musical colleagues he had the privilege to play with over the years, and his legendary jazz parties will be remembered.

With his wife Annie, Ted became involved in the New England Old English Sheepdog Rescue as a charter member, and created NEOESR’s website and database. Ted philosophically evolved to embrace the abiding concepts of truth, beauty, goodness, and love.

Ted is survived by Annie; his children Laurence (Suzanne), Polly (Robin), and Liza (Clifford); stepchildren Robert (Annette), Deborah, Michael (Leslie), and David (Lisa); many grandchildren, step-grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. He was predeceased by son Edward and siblings Sylvia, Archa, Bessie, and Harriette.

A celebration of Ted’s life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to a charity of your choice.

George Hatsopoulos

Lincoln resident George Hatsopoulos, founder of Thermo Electron and a life member emeritus of the MIT Corporation (its board of trustees), died on September 20 at the age of 91. By the time he retired in 1999, Thermo Electron (now Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.) had over 24,000 employees in 23 countries and worked in industries ranging from medical devices and environmental systems to bomb detectors and biomass electric generation. Click here for the full obituary on the MIT website. Click here for a video interview with Hatsopoulos for MIT’s Infinite History project.

Ruth Sartori

Ruth Sartori, 86 (September 17) — longtime teacher aide in Lincoln schools. Visiting hours on Thursday, Sept. 20 from 4–8 p.m. in the Dee Funeral Home (27 Bedford St., Concord); funeral Mass on Friday, Sept. 21 at 10 a.m. in St. Joseph Church in Lincoln. Click here for full obituary.

Peter Rubel

Peter Rubel, 87 (August 17) — Held patents for metallurgy and plastics production processes. Click here for full obituary.

Vernon Welch

Vernon Welch, 90 (June 16) — active with the Lincoln Jazz Club.

Alan B. Smith

Alan B. Smith, 86 (August 3) — engineer and physicist. There will be a celebration of his life in Concord on August 26.

Gordon Winchell

Gordon Winchell, 98 (May 9) — Lincoln family doctor for nearly 40 years, peace activist, conservationist, winner of Lifetime Achievement Award from the First Parish in Lincoln.

Phyllis Mutschler, 75 (May 6) — professor of social policy and management at Brandeis University who researched senior housing projects, home health care, and aging services targeted at women retirees.

Gloria McCarthy

Gloria Ison McCarthy, 94 — former teacher in Pennsylvania; resident of The Commons (April 23)

Peter Thomas, 84 — founder of Lincoln Architects and watercolor artist (April 25)

Edwin F. Potter Jr., 91 (March 18)

Peter Thomas

In a set of obituaries published on April 25, the nickname of Elizabeth “Bisty” Donaldson was misspelled. The original story has been corrected.