Richard Dana Sharp

Richard Dana Sharp died March 12 2014 at the Aegis Memory Care facility in Aptos California at the age of 83. His wife Constance and his children were at his bedside at the time of death. The cause of death was Alzheimer's disease. Richard was born June 17, 1930 to Sally and George Sharp in Brooklyn NY. The family later moved to Glen Cove, Long Island where Richard attended area schools. In 1952, Richard earned a PhD in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Richard moved to Palo Alto California to work for the Lockheed Missile and Space Co. where he worked for 30 years. Richard married Constance in 1959 and they raised two sons in Cupertino and later Portola Valley. Richard and Connie moved to Aptos in 1992. Richard's work at Lockheed began with research into the effects of nuclear weapons to communication technology and shortly changed focus to satellite investigations into the emerging field of space physics. Richard's research at Lockheed included investigations in collaboration with NASA and the European Space Union into the return of Halley's Comet in 1986. Along with his family and career Richard was passionate about the outdoors having been involved with scouting, the MIT Outing Club and the Sierra Club. Richard was a sailor and enjoyed sailing with his family in San Francisco and Monterey Bay. Richard enjoyed travel and the arts. Richard is survived by his wife Constance Sharp of Santa Cruz, his sons Michael Sharp of Bainbridge Island Washington and Thomas Sharp of Santa Cruz, his daughter in law Kathryn Sharp of Santa Cruz, his granddaughters, Alexandra Sharp, of Bainbridge Island and Samantha Sharp, Natalie Sharp and Haley Burrous, all from Santa Cruz. A memorial get together is planned for April please call 831 768 3076 for more information.