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In Memoriam: Richard C. Honey, 1924-2020
Mar 01, 2020
Richard “Dick” Churchill Honey, OSA Fellow and OSA Emeritus Member, passed away at the age of 95. Honey made numerous fundamental technical contributions in the areas of antennas, lasers, lidar, and ocean optics, and he served as the Director of Research and Development at SRI International.
Honey was born in Portland, OR, USA, and studied physics at the California Institute of Technology, until he was called to active duty in 1943 and become part of the V-2 Navy College Training Program during WWII. Honey graduated in 1945 and then pursued his PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford University. Honey joined SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute) in 1952 as a Senior Research Engineer. He would spend the next forty years at SRI, advancing to the position of Senior Principal Scientist at his retirement in 1992.
During his career, Honey would be honored by the SRI Hall of Fame, become an IEEE Fellow and an OSA Fellow, and receive numerous commendations from the Department of Defense, United States Army, Air Force, and Navy. In his free time, Honey enjoyed sailing, backpacking, and skiing with his family and friends. While studying at Stanford, Honey married Helen Waugaman and they would go onto raise five children. Honey would later remarry and enjoy his time with his stepchildren. He was known as a kind and gentle person, who was always generous with his time and knowledge. Honey is survived by his wife Jo Anne Kipp, children Leslie, Steven, Laura, and Janine Honey, grandsons Erin and Ari Warren and stepchildren Greg, Michele, Eric and Leslie Kipp.
OSA and the scientific community mourns the loss of Richard “Dick” Honey.