Robert W. Hellwarth

Robert was part of my and George Gordon's wedding party back in Santa Monica in 1959. I became friends with his first wife Abby when they live on Avondale i Santa Monica. At that time they had their first two children. George died in2008. I'n 90 now and still trucking. Patricia Gordon

While randomly surfing, I came upon an article about your dad passing, Ben. That was a great tribute you wrote. As a little kid I was clueless about his life story. I just remember the things a kid would remember--such as going to birthday parties in your back yard with your dad playing his accordion (we lived across the street from you guys). One of my best memories that I still tell was one Halloween night...your dad had set you up with a laser up in that upstairs room. Nobody had ever...

In case anyone is interested, a longer version of this obituary is posted on the Rhodes Trust website:
https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/media/45669/robert-w-hellwarth.pdf

In the spring of 1962 I purchased a brand new, high horsepower fire engine red Corvette. One day at his request we drove top down from one end of Malibu Canyon to the other at break-neck speed. Not a single word was uttered during the entire ride. Totally silent except when I let him out of the car in front of the HRL lobby he said, “that wasfun let’s do it again.....sometime”. We never did.

Bob was a consultant to the Hughes Research Laboratories for many years and I remember traveling down the hill in his old VW bus for lunches in Malibu. He was a delightful fellow and a brilliant scientist.

Bob was a brilliant scientist with a gentle personality. His passing is a great loss. He will be missed.