H. Gunther Rudenberg

H. Gunther Rudenberg, 88 German-born Physicist and Engineer, nurtured passion for history of science SCARBOROUGH - H. Gunther Rudenberg, 88, German-born Physicist and Engineer, nurtured passion for history of science. Gunther Rudenberg, physicist, electronic engineer, quietly devoted and supportive husband and father, and later science historian, died on Jan. 16 in Scarborough. He was born on August 9, 1920 in Charlottenburg, (Berlin), Germany to botanist Lily Minkowski Rudenberg and Siemens engineer and University of Gottingen professor Reinhold Rudenberg, also an engineer, who held the first patents and a role in invention of the Electron Microscope. Gunther attended the GrŸnewald Gymnasium and then the Felsted School in southeastern England (1934) where he excelled. 'After the Nuremberg laws of 1935, my parents decided that the family should leave Germany as soon as practical'. Gunther recently wrote of his parents' 'deep anxieties associated with their É preparations for their departures'. His parents and two siblings, Angelica and Hermann, joined him in England. After Reinhold was invited to be professor and Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Harvard University, they left by boat for the United States in October 1938. Academics and science were a family priority. In 1941, after three years at Harvard College, Gunther graduated Magna cum Laude in Physics, earning a masters degree in Physics in 1942. He then left his studies to serve in the US Army and was stationed at Los Alamos, N.M. from 1943-1946 with the Manhattan Project, including participating in measurement of the atomic blasts at Bikini Atoll. Having seen these, he made a trip to the Grand Canyon to 'restore some perspective on life' After the war he continued his Harvard studies towards a PhD Electron Physics, conferred in 1950. He married Marian Joan Ritchie (deceased August 2006), originally of Duluth, Minn. in December of 1952 in Orleans, Mass.They surveyed land together, built their first house, and moved to Beverly, Mass. in 1954, lured by the ocean and boating to remain there until 1997. Gunther worked at the Raytheon research division from 1948 through 1962, which included work on early solar cells. He continued his professional career at Arthur D Little Inc. as a Senior Staff member, consulting in micro-chip semiconductor research and integrated circuits from 1962 through 1983. He served on the vestry and choir of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, was a Scout leader, community advocate, and on numerous committees at two retirement communities. He was a Life Member and Centennial Medal recipient of the Electrical/Electronic Engineering Institute (IEEE). Avocations included genealogy, small boat sailing, photography and computers. Gardening and trips to the New Hampshire White Mountains were restorative throughout his adult life. Gunther began writing on electron microscopy and the discovery of the electron in his retirement. He was a resident of Piper Shores in Scarborough from 2001 to 2009. He is survived by Elizabeth Rudenberg and Dan Merson and their children Abigael, Jacob, and Isaac of Falmouth; Paul and Marguerite Rudenberg and their children Nathaniel, Peter, and Joanna of Les Cayes, Haiti; and Jim and Gloria Rudenberg and their children Jonathan, Paul, Emily, Annie, and Daniel of Wakefield, Canada; and many nieces and nephews. A service will be held in Gunther's memory on Monday, Jan. 19 at 11 a.m. at the Chapel of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke in Portland with a gathering to follow. Arrangements are under the guidance of Independent Death Care of Maine. Online condolences can be offered at www.independentdeathcare.com. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Heifer International, or to the Reinhold Rudenberg Memorial Prize at Harvard Univ. or MIT. H. Gunther Rudenberg