Richard “Dick” Eckhaus passed away peacefully at home on January 27th after a brief illness in the arms of his wife of 42 years, Ruth Maurucci.
The child of Richard Eckhouse, Sr. and Lois Eckhouse Bloch, Dick grew up in Glencoe, Illinois and attended New Trier High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University. He holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois. getting his Ph.D. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dick has served at Bucknell University, SUNY Buffalo, UMass Amherst, Temple University, Dartmouth College, Yale University and at UMass Boston. rice field.
He was a scientist at MOCO, Inc., a brain research company he and Ruth co-founded, working on projects with NASA, the Department of Defense, and the National Institutes of Health. His industry experience includes various management positions at Digital Equipment Corporation and appointments at IBM Research. He was also the author of several books, including his first one on microcontrollers and microcomputing.
Dick had a great sense of humor and was adored by children and grandchildren for his terrible “dad jokes.” He earned his pilot’s license in his late 70’s and enjoyed flying his friends and family in a Cessna. He later developed a passion for boating, venturing far aboard the trawler ‘Aftersort’ and was instrumental in founding the Scituate Maritime Center where he served on the board of directors. He served as a member of both the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary (12th Division) and the Bear Cove Sail and Power Squadron. Dick was the ultimate tinkerer. He started by scaring his mother when he was seven years old when he took his family’s toaster apart to see how it worked. And I was often surrounded by all sorts of mechanical parts that needed repair. In his later years he helped senior citizens understand cell phones, computers and iPads. He was patient and a talented teacher.
Dick has never come across a dessert he dislikes, especially if it’s made of chocolate. I loved having ice cream made for breakfast. Dick was his loving grandfather and would entertain his grandchildren every summer so they could learn to sail at Stuate (and learn how to play poker in the afternoon).
In addition to his wife Ruth, he has three children with his first wife, Judy Glazer, Noah (Katherine Popper), Rachel (Al Weisz), and Seth (Katherine), Michaela, Eli, and Henry Ekhaus. has five grandchildren. Maddox and Chabba Wise, his younger brother John (Rachel Brau), and many nieces and nephews. Dick was predeceased by his sister Margot He Weiss, who died in 2005.
In lieu of flowers, you can donate to the Situation Youth Sailing Program or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The visitation will be held at Richardson Guffey Funeral Home, 382 1st Parish Rd, Scituate, Monday, February 6, from 2-6pm with a tribute at 5:30pm.
A funeral mass will be held at St. Lawrence O’Toole Church, 494 New Britain Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut, Tuesday, February 7 at 11:00 am. A burial will take place immediately after Mass at Mount St. Benedict Cemetery, 1 Cottage Grove Rd, Bloomfield, CT.
Published by Hartford Courant on February 1, 2023.
