Robert Smith

Robert LeRoy Smith passed away on Friday, September 3, 2021, at the age of 90. Bob is preceded in the next life by his wife of 61 years, Lois. He is dearly remembered by his children Ceci Gross, Marcus Smith (and wife Irene) and daughter Allean Richter (and husband John). He is also lovingly remembered by his sisters Betty Howard and Janice Webster and his nieces Tanya Karasek and Jody Prichard. He was a dear grandfather to Abby Linden (and husband Derek), Nate Smith and Cozmo Smith, and a great-grandfather to Caspian Linden. Bob Smith was born in South Bend, Indiana. His family moved to Southern California when he was a boy. He was the only member of the El Monte High School class of 1949 to be accepted to Cal Tech. It was there at a dance class in 1953 where he met Lois, his future wife and love of his life. After getting his B.S. in Physics in 1953, Bob and Lois headed to Stanford University where Bob obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Lois obtained her B.A. in Classics. After Ceci and Marcus were born, the family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii where Bob was an assistant professor. In 1970 he also taught for a year at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Bob was a Stanford University Research Physicist. His expertise was in VLF (Very Low Frequency) radio waves generated by lightning. His research took him to Antarctica where he studied “whistlers” which led to a number of published scientific papers. He helped design a VLF receiver that was placed on a POGO satellite. Bob was also a Software Engineer, programming his first computer in 1955. He belonged to the early computer clubs in Palo Alto (thought Wozniak was brilliant, didn’t care much for Jobs). He re-wrote a compiler for a computer language to handle complex number arithmetic and created an improved algorithm for complex division. He was also a member of the IEEE Floating Point Standards committee. Bob was an accomplished accordion player, starting lessons when he was 10. In his retired years, he was a member of the San Francisco Accordion Club and the San Francisco Accordion Chamber Ensemble, travelling up and down the Pacific Coast to perform. He wrote “Fingering for the Accordion”, a book much appreciated by budding and experienced players. Bob’s heart, soul and sense of humor will be missed by all who knew him.