RICHARD McFARLAND

McFARLAND RICHARD McFARLAND, Ph.D., P.E., age 83 of Athens, died Sept. 3, 2012, in Athens. He was a renowned researcher and pilot who made significant contributions to the field of aviation safety. His work with Instrument Landing Systems has been used in airports throughout the U.S. He was born Jan. 20, 1929, in Cleveland, the son of the late J.B. and Flossie Church McFarland. His childhood was spent in Massillon, where his parents made it possible for him to enter the field of aviation. When he was a young child, his mother arranged for him to have his first flight aboard a Ford Tri-Motor plane. At Ohio University, he learned to fly and obtained his pilot's license through the university aviation program. As a student, he would fly home on weekends and land in a neighbor's field. For the rest of his life, flying was a singular passion and always his preferred mode of transportation. He earned his B.S. in Mathematics and was in Air Force ROTC at O.U. He was called to active duty in Korea, while attending graduate school at Purdue and served as an Air Force Meteorologist. He returned to Lockbourne Air Force Base near Columbus and completed his Master degree and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Ohio State University. He began his teaching career as an Assistant Professor at O.S.U. and then returned to O.U., in 1962, where he would spend the next 48 years on the faculty. He retired in 2010, as Russ Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering. He was the founder and director of the Avionics Engineering Center at O.U. He worked on projects with the FAA, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, industrial organizations, and individual airport commissions. He worked on landing systems at over 100 airports. As a pilot, who held airline transport pilot and flight instructor certificates and who has compiled more than 21,000 hours of flying time, he was called upon to serve as an expert witness in a number of legal trials involving airplane crashes. Dr. McFarland is survived by his wife, Norma; his son, Dr. David McFarland of Lake Charles, LA; two daughters- Jeanne McFarland (David) Hoopes of Rock River, OH and Laurel (Christopher Williams) McFarland of Silver Springs, MD. He has four grandchildren- Patrick, Andrea, Clement and Bracklinn. Funeral service will be Saturday, 2:00 p.m., at the First Christian Church, Congress and State Sts., Athens, with Rev. Deanna White officiating. Entombment will be in Athens Memory Gardens Mausoleum. FRIENDS MAY CALL FRIDAY, 5 - 8 P.M., AT JAGERS & SONS FUNERAL HOME, ATHENS. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the McFarland Electrical Engineering Scholarship, c/o the Ohio University Foundation, P.O. Box 869, Athens, OH 45701. Please share a memory, a note of condolence or sign the online register book at www.jagersfuneralhome.com.