Robert Michaud

1925 - 2014

Robert E. Michaud, 88, of Bedford, Massachusetts died on February 7, 2014 after a long illness and complications from a fall. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1925, the beloved son of Romeo "Bill" Michaud and Elizabeth (Boudreau) Michaud. In high school, Bob was was an honors student and captain of the track team. He also participated enthusiastically in musical theatre. He attended Bowdoin College, and during WWII, entered the Navy V-12 officer training program at Bates College. During his time in the Navy, he served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB/CVA/CV-42). Through the V-12 program, he earned BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After MIT he worked at Raytheon on the RAYDAC, a one-of-a-kind computer that was started in 1949, finished in 1953, and installed at the Naval Air Missile Test Center at Point Mugu, California. Bob and other members of the RAYDAC team later left to cofound Computer Control Corporation. Subsequently he cofounded Keymatch, Inc. which pioneered advances in the use of bar codes in supermarkets, and Easel Corporation, where he designed an early model of the touch screen. Bob loved music and singing his whole life. Over the years, he sang with a Gilbert and Sullivan choral group, as well as the Chorus Pro Musica and the choir at Boston's Church of the Advent. He also gave numerous solo performances. While singing in the Advent choir, Bob met his future wife Ellen, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design who was working as the window display designer at Filene's Department Store in downtown Boston. Bob also had a lifelong passion for vintage automobiles, especially sports cars, and volunteered for many years at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, where he served as a Trustee and as Chairman of the Exhibit Committee. In addition to singing, vintage cars, and writing, Bob loved traveling, taking photographs, sailing, swimming, and spending time with his family in Bedford and on Buzzard's Bay. He is survived by his wife of sixty years Ellen, his daughters Elizabeth and Virginia, and his grandson Ted. A memorial service in celebration of Bob's life will be held on Saturday, March 15, 2014 at 1:30 PM at the First Parish Unitarian Church, 75 Great Road, Bedford, Mass, 782-275-8802, www.uubedford.org. In lieu of flowers, the family would welcome donations in Bob's memory to the Larz Anderson Auto Museum, WCRB 99.5 Classical Radio, or the Bedford Historical Society.