Edward Gray Rice

1932 - 2022

Rice, Edward Gray

PALO ALTO, CA - Edward Gray Rice passed away on January 7, 2022 near his longtime home in Palo Alto, California.

Ed was born on April 9, 1932 to his parents, Clarence Lyman Rice and Ruth Scheibler Rice, in Belmont, Massachusetts. He attended Belmont Public Schools, graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts with a bachelor's degree, and earned a Master's of Science degree in Biochemistry from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts in 1956.

Until his retirement in 2002, Ed enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the pharmaceutical industry, during which his groundbreaking work was recognized with several patents. Throughout, Ed was well-regarded by his colleagues for his intelligence, generosity, and sense of humor.

Ed was a true polymath, and enjoyed scientific, musical and artistic pursuits throughout his life. His boundless knowledge of classical music was reflected in an extensive and unparalleled library of LPs and CDs and shared through the finest audio equipment. He thoroughly enjoyed photography, both taking photos and developing them in his home darkroom. He also played the recorder, made his own block prints and assisted his wife, Verne, over the many years during which she produced hundreds of hand-silkscreened calendars in the family garage on Ross Court.

Ed was a devoted friend, beloved for his attentiveness, dry wit and humor, and voracious intellect. He will be missed by all.

He is survived by his loving wife of fifty-four years, Verne Spitz Rice, and by his children, grandchildren and great-grandchild: Edward "Ted" Rice, his wife Alysia, and their children, Colin Rice and Avery Rice, of Concord, New Hampshire; Abigail Rice of Palo Alto, California; Alison Rice, her husband Geoffrey Conner, and their daughters, Isabel Conner and Hannah Conner, of Madison, Wisconsin; Robert Rice, of Florida; and Emily Gray Rice and her husband, Ricky Axtman, of Concord, New Hampshire, and their daughters, Sophia Axtman, her husband Craig Levy and their daughter Ruth Levy of Medford, Massachusetts, and Phoebe Axtman of Concord, New Hampshire.

Contributions in Ed's memory can be made to the Friends of the Palo Alto Library.