Robert Hoogstoel

Robert Hoogstoel, 73, was born in Troy, NY on October 21, 1935, the son of Leon and Jeanne Hoogstoel. He spent his last two years of high school at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, graduating with the class of 1952. While at Exeter he sang with the Glee Club and the Phillips Church Choir, beginning a life-long interest in choral singing. From Exeter, Bob entered the College of Engineering at Cornell University, graduating in 1957. During his time at Cornell he was a member of the Cornell Men's Glee Club and was chosen for membership in Cayuga's Waiters, an independent a cappella triple quartet that performed frequently on campus and at other colleges and events. Bob was also a member of the Sphinx Head Society (the oldest senior honor society at Cornell) and the Tau Beta Pi national engineering honor society. After his Cornell graduation, Bob worked briefly for the Babcox & Wilcox Company in Lynchburg, VA, before attending the University of California at Berkeley, where in 1962 he earned a Master's Degree in Nuclear Engineering. Afterward he worked briefly for the General Electric Company in Schenectady, NY. In Schenectady he met Jewel Beauford, a native of Burlington, NC. They were married later that year. By the end of 1964 Bob had joined the faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Broome Community College in Binghamton, NY, a member of the State University of New York system. In 1970 he was invited to become Assistant Dean at the newly established School of Advanced Technology at the State University of New York in Binghamton. In 1977 Bob joined the Dana Corporation in Toledo, OH, where he was Manager of Technical Education, a position that focused on improving the quality of products and services throughout the corporation. In 1984 he left Dana and joined the Juran Institute in Wilton, CT. While there Bob was a quality improvement consultant to clients (including work with manufacturers in the developing market economies of several Eastern European countries), and also was co-author with Institute founder and chairman Joseph Juran on a variety of quality training materials. He was also associate editor of the fifth edition of Juran's Quality Handbook, a standard reference work published by McGraw Hill. In 1998 Bob retired from the Juran Institute. He and his wife, Jewel, moved to Fearrington Village, in Chatham County, NC. In Fearrington he served for two years as president of the Camden Park Neighborhood Association. Returning to his interest in music, Bob also took up choral singing with the Chapel Hill Community Chorus, an organization that he also served as a member of the Board of Directors and as president for two years. He was an active member of the Chorus until the onset of cancer forced his retirement in 2007. While in Fearrington, Bob participated in a wide range of other activities. He was active at the Ackland Museum, assisting Jewel in her organization and leadership of travel in which members of the museum visited arts-focused locales in a number of states. He also worked regularly with the Chatham County Council on Aging, making deliveries to participants in the Meals on Wheels program. Bob is survived by his wife, Jewel; his sister, Jane Farrar of Rexford, NY; and a number of nephews and nieces. There will be a celebration of life at a later date. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Jewel and Bob Hoogstoel International Scholarship Fund at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro, which encourages and facilitates travel by students in the Department of Interior Architecture. UNCG: ATTN: Advancement Services, 1100 West Market St., P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170.