Donald Quarles Jr.

Donald Aubrey Quarles, Jr. of Eastham, MA passed away peacefully at age 92 on June 7, 2014 after a long illness. His final days were spent surrounded by his family in hospice at the McCarthy Care Center in E. Sandwich, MA. Don was the son of the late Carolyn Whittemore and Donald A. Quarles of Englewood, NJ, where he spent his childhood and where a school is named after his father, who was the Mayor of Englewood, Secretary of the Air Force, and Deputy Secretary of Defense under Eisenhower. In 1939, Donald A. Quarles, Jr. graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, and then completed an accelerated undergraduate degree at Yale and postgraduate studies at the U.S. Naval Academy before joining the Navy in WWII. During his naval service, Don was stationed in Hawaii and the Mariana Islands, where he forecasted weather for navy pilots. Following WWII, Don returned to Yale, where he completed his Masters degree in Mathematics, and met his future wife, Doris Weller of Lisbon, CT. Don and Doris were married on June 3, 1950, and chose to settle in Bergen County, NJ, where they raised four children. In 1964, Don received his PhD in Applied Mathematics from the Courant Institute at NYU. Don worked for IBM in NYC and later at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY as a research mathematician. Some of Dons work included managing a group of scientists who tracked the first satellite, Russias Sputnik in 1957; and developing IBMs supercomputer, the inkjet printer, and MRI technology. He also co-developed the Beckman-Quarles Theorem in geometry. On a personal level, Don loved playing duplicate bridge and felt honored to become a Silver Life Master. He was also a chess master, excelled at tennis and squash, and enjoyed swimming in the ocean with his children. He had a great appreciation for nature and music, in particular opera and jazz. He was a gifted pianist who could play complex classical or jazz pieces from memory. Don will be remembered as a brilliant, kind-hearted and gentle man, with a unique sense of humor that delighted the family. His old-world manners and grace will never be forgotten. Don is survived by his wife Doris; his sister Elisabeth, three daughters Laurie, Jan, and Susan; son Donald A. Quarles III; four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Funeral arrangements were private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Eastham Senior Center, 1405 Nauset Road, Eastham, MA 02642, or The Orleans Senior Center, 150 Rock Harbor Rd, Orleans, MA 02653, where Don loved to play bridge, or to a local charity for animal rescue, Wildcare, 10 Smith Lane, Eastham, MA, 02642.