Walter O. LeCroy Jr.

Walter O. LeCroy, Jr., passed away on May 10, 2023, in Murfreesboro, TN. He was 88 years old.
Walter was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on February 17, 1935, and spent his teen years in Decatur, Alabama, graduating from Decatur High School in 1952. He studied photography and journalism at the University of Alabama for a year before moving to New York to enroll at Columbia University. In 1956, he graduated cum laude from Columbia College with a BA in physics. He pursued graduate studies in physics at Columbia and became chief electronics engineer at Columbia's Nevis Laboratories in Irvington, New York. During this time, he developed a strong interest in techniques for measuring the high-speed electronic signals encountered in the particle physics experiments being conducted using the Nevis Cyclotron.
In 1964 Walter left Nevis to form LeCroy Research Systems, which specialized in the design and development of electronic instrumentation. The company grew from very small beginnings to become a worldwide leader in particle physics instrumentation, displacing several larger companies in this field. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan presented Walter with the prestigious President's "E" (Exporter) Award for the company's significant contributions to the expansion of U.S. exports.
Over time, Walter shifted the company's focus from particle and nuclear physics to high-end oscilloscopes, vital in the design of fast computer communication systems, and changed its name to LeCroy Corporation. He maintained an active role in product design and development, held several US patents for electronic circuits and instrumentation, and was elected to the Electronic Design Hall of Fame in 2007. His management style established a company culture emphasizing an entrepreneurial spirit and mutual respect among all his employees. He rarely accepted the answer, "We can't do that." Rather, he encouraged his staff to innovate and was known to motivate the engineers at LeCroy by telling them: "You people are not making mistakes fast enough!" In 1992, he received the John Fluke Award for "Excellence in Management and Leadership in the Test Industry."
Walter once said, "I'd like for the company to be known for making serious contributions to measurement technology. That is an enabling technology for everything else. It's pretty fundamental for humanity, though much of humanity isn't aware of it." In his nearly 60 years with the company, Walter built a diversified test and measurement industry powerhouse that became an acknowledged leader in high-speed digital oscilloscopes. The company currently employs nearly 700 people in several US states and a dozen countries around the world. In 2012, LeCroy Corporation was acquired by Teledyne Technologies to form Teledyne-LeCroy.
Living life to the fullest outside of work, Walter embraced music & theater – from bluegrass to Broadway – with great enthusiasm. He traveled to bluegrass festivals from the earliest days of such events and attended countless concerts, folk dances, and theater performances in and around New York City. Among his other avocations, he was a dedicated wine connoisseur and a student of history. He was also an avid skier, frequenting the slopes of Vermont and Switzerland, and he earned his pilot's license and flew himself on many of his trips around the Northeast and throughout the United States. Eschewing accepted physical therapy methods involving weights and treadmills when they were prescribed at one point, Walter designed his own therapy program: Learning to dance the Argentine Tango – a program which included a tango trip to Buenos Aires.
Photography was a life-long passion of Walter's. He also enjoyed woodworking and was a skilled furniture builder. A darkroom and a woodworking shop were standard features in his home, no matter where he was living, until the darkroom was eventually replaced by computers equal to the task of editing high-resolution digital photographs and printers capable of producing large-format editions of his work.
Walter's fascination with photography first manifested itself when, as a child, he infamously (and permanently) disassembled his father's Brownie camera to see where the pictures were kept. As a teenager, he was the photographer for his high school newspaper, worked as a stringer for the Decatur Daily newspaper, and sold several of his images, including some featured as front-page photos, to the Birmingham News. He also took many striking black-and-white photographs of New York City in the 1950s and '60s while living there.
Walter loved to travel – and always with a camera. As his travels for his company took him across the country and around the world, he carried along his passion for photography, documenting the everyday experiences of people in all walks of life, the tiny details and grand settings that define the character and sense of place in city and countryside alike, and ironies or juxtapositions that tickled his sense of humor. For over six decades and across five continents, he captured the exotic and the mundane with equal appreciation. His imaginative photography brought together his deep love of art, design, science, and technology, and his work has been shown in several galleries, including the New York Hall of Science (where one gallery bears his name). After he retired, Walter and his wife, Dori, owned and ran Imaging Arts Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina, featuring his work and that of other local photographers.
Walter was an active patron of the arts. He served on the board of the Rockland Center for the Arts for several years, and he was the founding board president of the Helen Hayes Theatre Company in Nyack, NY, serving in that capacity for seven years. During his tenure, the HHTC itself staged more than 60 productions, and was deeply engaged in community outreach, working with many schools and youth organizations throughout Rockland County on their own theatrical productions and providing hundreds of performance and writing camps, workshops, and programs for youth. One of the programs HHTC initiated was the Helen Hayes Youth Theatre which continues to this day.
Walter was also instrumental in introducing a Young Astronauts program to elementary schools in Rockland County. This program engaged teachers and students in math and science through the study of space exploration. A mentor to many, he was generous with his support and was always there to help when he was needed – or just to share a moment of joy.
After retiring from a daily role at LeCroy Corporation in 1999, Walter continued to make things happen. He remained active on the board of LeCroy Corporation and served on the boards of several other organizations, including the Foundation for Economic Education where he spent a year as chairman. In 2005, he co-founded the Bastiat Society, an organization committed to advancing free trade, individual freedom, and responsible governance. The Bastiat Society grew to over 28 chapters before joining the American Institute for Economic Research in 2017.
Walter was predeceased by his parents, Sara (McCain) and Walter O. LeCroy, Sr., and by his brother, Stuart LeCroy. He is survived by his wife, Dori LeCroy; brothers, Maurice and Kent LeCroy; children Sara LeCroy (Chet Rakocinski), Lauren (Andy) May, and Jeremy LeCroy; stepchildren, Sarah Bates and Ned (Julie) Bates; granddaughter, Kaitlyn May and step-granddaughters, Rowan and Lucy Bates; several cousins and nephews; and many, many friends.
Walter's family would like to thank the staff at Adams Place in Murfreesboro for their unfailing kindness to Walter during his time there.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Walter's honor may be made to: The Mayo clinic (https://philanthropy.mayoclinic.org/donateMC; Select "Make this donation a tribute" under "Gift Options."), or The Bastiat Society (https://www.aier.org/lecroy/).
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