He is survived by his wife Suzanne Swanson Burger; his daughter from his first marriage, Maria Burger; and Suzanne’s daughters Laura Bell and Nancy Maltby, as well as many extended family members and friends. His sister Eleanor Wolfram predeceased him.

Dale earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 1956 from the California Institute of Technology as well as a masters’ degree in mechanical engineering in 1958 from USC and an MBA from Stanford in 1964. In the early 1950s he served in a U.S. Army survey platoon in Germany and France.

He joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in April 1978, refining solar panel photovoltaics for widespread use on Earth. His culminating achievement was designing the first solar arrays on Mars for the 1997 Mars Pathfinder spacecraft, lander, and Sojourner rover. In retirement Dale actively sought intellectual challenges and enjoyed tutoring young students in math and physics.

In 1943, Dale’s father purchased 160 acres of Sierra land that had once been a fishing retreat for L.C. Brand of Glendale. It became a sanctuary for family, friends, wildlife, and migratory birds. In 2025, with support from the Eastern Sierra Land Trust and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, the land was returned to the Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a Tribe.

The family suggests contributions to Caltech’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships program, Whittier College, the Mono Lake Committee, or the Eastern Sierra Land Trust. A memorial gathering in Pasadena, California will be announced at a future date.

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Very much loved by his wife Caroline, his children Christophe and Alexandra his stepchildren Anna and Edward and his ten grandchildren.

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Gerald (Jerry) Zee Lippey, age 91, passed away peacefully at his home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA on May 12, 2025. Born on March 12, 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jerry was always interested in science from a very early age. He was a member of Troop Club, graduated with a BS in Engineering from Caltech in 1955, an MS in Aeronautical engineering in 1956, and was a lifetime member of the Caltech Alumni Association. After a short stint in the US Air Force, he joined the IBM Almaden Research Labs in San Jose, California. In 1974, he edited a seminal book in the field of testing entitled “Computer-Assisted Test Construction.” He then made a career change to enter the family business of commercial real estate leasing and was President of The Lippey Company for over 25 years.

Jerry had a long-time romance with Nancy Babbitt who he dated for 37 years before they decided to get married 8 years ago. He is survived by Nancy, sister Joyce Muns, son Barret Lippey, daughter Teri Hartt, granddaughters Nina Lippey, Mia Lippey, Alissa Hunter, and Rebecca Robbins, and great grandson Lincoln Hunter.

In Jerry’s younger years, he enjoyed marlin fishing in Mexico, camping with his family, and mathematical puzzles of all sorts. In later life, he was an MVP member of the Microsoft development community, developed an appreciation for fine red wine from Northern California, and stayed physically active with Nancy in a local square dancing club.

Jerry will be sorely missed by his family and friends.

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Lancaster, Penn. — Joseph Sternberg died peacefully on Saturday, April 26, at the Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center, aged 103.

Joseph was born Nov. 24, 1921, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Jacob “Jack” and Natalie (née Trueman) Sternberg. He grew up in and around New York City before attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the California Institute of Technology, from which he graduated with honor with a B.S. in engineering (1942) and an M.S. in aeronautics (1943). He was awarded a Ph.D. in aeronautics by Johns Hopkins University in 1955.

Deterred from enlisting during World War II due to his educational background, he instead was asked by his country to apply his scientific skills to the war effort, which he did at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. There he met his wife, Edith (née Jacobs), and they were married in 1946.

Following the war, Joseph served his country throughout his career as he moved between defense contractors and direct government employment. In the late 1940s and 50s he rose to be director of the U.S. Army Ballistics Research Laboratories at Aberdeen Proving Ground engaged in experimental and theoretical research in high-speed aerodynamics and fluid dynamics.

In 1962 he joined Martin Marietta, where he worked on projects ranging from the Viking Mars probe to early development of the A10 fighter aircraft.

Always deeply committed to the cause of national defense, from 1971-74 he served as the scientific adviser to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO) in Belgium, where he focused on technological issues concerning new weapons systems development. Following another period in the private sector, he closed out his career as a professor of physics at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

Over the decades he authored a series of scientific papers in fields such as fluid dynamics and aeronautics, many of which remain influential and continue to be cited in new research. His work was key to discovering how an object can move faster than the speed of sound. He remained engaged in a variety of other scientific questions during his retirement, and was finishing a paper on climate science at the time of his death.

Joseph was an avid tennis player, capable of winning matches against his son well into his 80s. He enjoyed a long interest in French language and culture, and participated regularly in events with the Alliance Française cultural club during the years he lived in Woodbury and then Southbury, Conn. In his younger years he enjoyed sailing and travel, including visiting children and grandchildren in locales as far-flung as Moscow, La Paz, Bolivia, and Hong Kong. He took up piano lessons in his 90s.

Joseph is survived by children Leslie Lebl, Matthew Sternberg, and Rachel Sternberg; daughters- in-law Yvonne (Gilmer) Sternberg and Elizabeth “Libby” (Malin) Sternberg; grandchildren Joseph C., David S. (and wife Evelyn) and Hannah E. Sternberg and John W. “Jack,” Claire L. (and husband Ankur), and Audrey R. Hall; and by great-grandchildren Truman C., Penelope R., Filomina M., and Winifred E. Sternberg. He was predeceased by his parents, sister Betty Steele Romer, wife Edith, son David and infant son Paul, and son-in-law Giora M. Lebl.

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After receiving a BS in Physics and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology, he completed stints at Application Research Corporation, IBM and Hughes Aircraft Company and found himself on the forefront of the computer programming and graphics revolution in the early 1960s. Next, Sol started his own company, Digital Enterprises, and launched his ground breaking software program, Perspectives. After four decades in computer graphics, Sol took his expertise to Jet Propulsions Laboratory (JPL) as an engineer testing spacecraft during which time he received several outstanding achievement awards.

Sol is survived by his wife Carol Joyce de Picciotto, daughters Leonie de Picciotto and Natalie de Picciotto, sister Freida Hafif, sister and brother-in-law Helen and Maurice Douek, stepson Johnny Ledford, grandchildren Sarah Rose, Jack Rose, Isabella Hardy and Jet Hardy, and step-grandchildren Steele Ledford and Colton Ledford.

A memorial service was held on April 14, 2025, at Hillside Memorial Park.

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Born in Springfield, MA, he was the son of the late John and Marcella (Weldon) Grocki. Jack was a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he played soccer and was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. He continued his education by earning a Master of Science from California Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University.

Jack dedicated his career to serving as an Environmental, Economic, and Transportation Consultant. He played a significant role in the development of New York Central, Penn Central, and Conrail Railroad companies. A highly respected member of many boards and professional organizations, Jack was especially proud of his long involvement with the Keystone Region of the Rolls Royce Owners Club, where he held the positions of Chairman of the Board and, most recently, Treasurer.

Jack is survived by his daughters Jennifer Grocki and Lisa Kappatos, wife of Nick; his grandchildren Lilly and Jack Kappatos; stepchildren Christopher Hudak (Amy), Karen Ridenour (Keith), and Michael Hudak; as well as several step-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his daughter Cheryl A. Grocki.

A funeral service was held on Saturday, March 8, 2025, at 12:00 PM at Catagnus Funeral Home in Pottstown, PA.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

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Robert Charles Anderson, 80, “a monumental figure” in the field of American genealogy, as described by his colleagues, whose “influence … is vast—perhaps incalculable,” died on February 17, 2025 at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, as a result of complications from a heart attack.

Anderson earned degrees from Harvard College (A.B.), the California Institute of Technology (M.S.), and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (M.A.). He “attempted three careers (one of them successfully),” he reported in 1990 to the members of the class of 1965 with whom he had entered Harvard. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1965, “joining the Army Security Agency and spending nearly two years in Monterey [CA] learning Russian,” he wrote. “The next two years I was in West Berlin, listening to Russians in East Germany, the most exciting event of this period being the invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 20, 1968, which I witnessed (and heard) from an unusual perspective.”

After his 1969 Army discharge, he returned to Harvard to complete his degree in biochemistry in 1971. He earned his Master’s degree at Caltech, also in biochemistry, two years later. “I found the study of molecular biology and genetics intellectually satisfying,” he later recalled, “and might have remained in the field, but I learned that I was not made to work in a laboratory.”

During his years at Caltech, Anderson became interested in the ancestry of his father’s mother, Katherine Gay Anderson, who was born in Prince Edward Island and was a descendant of John Gay, who had migrated from England to Dedham, Massachusetts by 1634. “This led me to the study of genealogy, which, to my total surprise, is exactly what my mind was intended to do.” During the 1970s and 1980s, he quickly established a reputation as a meticulous, rigorous genealogical researcher and scholar, whose goal, as he told his Harvard classmates, was “the elevation of genealogy as a serious academic discipline.” In 1978, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, of which he later served as president. He was also a coeditor of the American Genealogist and editorial consultant to the New England Historical and Genealogical Register.

“As early as 1976,” he wrote in 1995, “I began making notes about a project which initially had the name ‘Genealogical Dictionary of the Great Migration.’” In 1988, he developed a formal proposal for what he called the “Great Migration Study Project,” the goal of which has been to produce brief biographical sketches, based on the most recent scholarship, of all European, primarily English, immigrants to New England during the years 1620 to 1640. The New England Historic Genealogical Society (since 2024 officially known as American Ancestors) in 1988 agreed to sponsor the project, naming Anderson its Director, a position he held until his recent death.

“Bob’s legacy lives on in his prolific work—fifteen Great Migration books, twenty-five volumes of The Great Migration Newsletter, and his methodology book, Elements of Genealogical Analysis,” wrote Ryan Woods, President and CEO of American Ancestors in a recent message to the organization’s staff and officials. “Beyond his publications, he was a gifted teacher,” Woods added. “His lectures and online courses attracted thousands, and the heritage tours he led by land and sea through England, the Netherlands and Massachusetts were rich with historical insight and filled with joy, discovery, and lifelong friendships.”

Anderson’s other books included Puritan Pedigrees: The Deep Roots of the Great Migration to New England (2018) and Directions of a Town: A History of Harvard, Massachusetts (1976). His interests extended into many fields and disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics, baseball, genetics, model railroading, and history, about which he amassed a personal library comprising, by his estimate, more than 20,000 books.

A resident of Jaffrey, New Hampshire in recent years, Anderson was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, May 24, 1944. He was the oldest of seven children of Albert Ernest Anderson and Frances Ellen (Hennessey) Anderson. He is survived by five siblings, Larry Anderson, Little Compton, RI; Christine O’Donnell, South Burlington, VT; Albert E. Anderson, Jr., Hinesburg, VT; Betsy Fowler, South Sutton, NH; and Barbara Brammer, Cambridge, MA. Bob is survived as well by eleven beloved nieces and nephews. His youngest brother, Bruce J. Anderson, predeceased him.

Bob also nurtured an extensive network of friends and acquaintances, in genealogical circles, among his college roommates, and beyond.

Plans for a memorial event will be made available at the website of the Fenton & Hennessey Funeral Home

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In Loving Memory of Bruce Allen Stern

December 15, 1946 – February 7, 2025

Bruce Allen Stern, age 78, passed away peacefully at his home in Waikoloa, Hawai’i on February 7, 2025. Born on December 15, 1946, in Los Angeles, CA, Bruce was a brilliant mind with a kind heart. He graduated in the top five of his class from Caltech in Pasadena, CA, with a degree in Chemical Engineering. Bruce dedicated over 40 years of his life to advancing science as a lead scientist in the aerospace industry, where he held numerous patents for innovative technologies. He was widely respected as an expert in Research and Development for Advanced Materials, Quality Management, Operations Management, and the implementation of large-scale IT systems.

Bruce is survived by his loving wife of 48 years, Debby Stern of Waikoloa; daughters Kimberly (Brittni) Wolf of Bel Air, MD, and Tammy Freeman of Fredericksburg, MD; and four beloved grandchildren: Michael, Jakob, Phoebe, and Zachary. It is comforting to know that Bruce will be reunited with his Grandson, Matthew, who passed away at age 25 in 2018. Bruce is also survived by his sisters, Susan (Frank) Stern-Kalmar of LaMesa, CA, and Sharon (Paulo) Rosi of Chatsworth, CA.
In retirement, Bruce continued to inspire and invest in others. He mentored the Children’s Robotics Programs at Kealakehe and Waikoloa Elementary/Middle Schools, volunteered with the Waikoloa Film Festival, and served for seven years with the Ironman World Championship in Kona. He was also a steady supporter of Debby’s volunteer efforts with the Red Cross, the Aloha Theater, and local schools.

A lifelong learner and avid writer, Bruce was a published author and active member of the Hawai’i Writers Guild and the Writers Support Group at Tutu’s House in Waimea. His novel, The Fuel Saver Conspiracy: A Peter Jones Mystery, tells the story of an engineer and ISO auditor whose groundbreaking idea draws him into a world of surveillance, corporate corruption, and dangerous intrigue. The book reflects both Bruce’s scientific expertise and his gift for storytelling.

Bruce was well-known around Waikoloa for his daily walks with his beloved dog, Howie. He seemed to know the names of every neighbor and every dog in the community. His warm smile, curious mind, and genuine Aloha Spirit left a lasting impression on all who had the pleasure of knowing him.

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