Obituary of Robert E McClure

Robert E. McClure, 89, died peacefully on November 10 while in hospice care at Stamford Hospital.
Bob was born on October 4, 1928 in Champaign Il the oldest child of Erma (Rau) McClure and Willis E. McClure. He graduated from Warrensburg High School, and went on to college, Receiving his Master’s in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois. He worked at the same Long Island engineering/defense company his whole working life- Sperry Gyroscope, which became Unysis. He received patents for several of his ideas at Sperry. He worked first on electronic tubes, then on lasers/optics, and became a master programmer before the advent of the personal computer.
 Bob lived with his wife Helen for over fifty years in Locust Valley N.Y.  Bob and Helen pursued many interests in their life together.  They went on many trips with nature as their focus (bird-watching in particular)- Costa Rica, Belize, and Trinidad and Tobago, Churchill at the Arctic Circle, and a road trip through Florida to Texas, almost to the Mexican border, and Illinois. He was an amateur seismographer, recording earthquakes and reporting them on his website. He delivered Meals on Wheels for at least fifteen years in the Glen Cove/ Locust Valley community.
Bob spent the last year of his life at Atria in Darien, and was an active and beloved member of this community.
Bob was predeceased by Helen, his wife of 61 years, and is survived by his children Dorothy (Alan Miller) Paul (Betsy) and Betty. He is also survived by his sisters Ruth Bamberg, and Patricia (Cindy Camus) and brother David, and grandchildren Julia and Paul Miller in addition to many nieces and nephews.