Samuel Starr Blackman

Samuel Starr Blackman
Samuel Starr Blackman of Los Angeles, California died May 14, 2019 at the age of 81 after a battle with Parkinson's Disease.
Sam was born in New Milford, Connecticut in March 1938, and was a Class of 1956 graduate of New Milford High School. Sam was among the most versatile Green Wave athletes in NMHS school history, earning 13 varsity letters from five different sports, including basketball, baseball, football, cross country and track & field. In recognition of these achievements, Sam was recently inducted into the New Milford High School Athletic Hall of Fame (Class of 2019).
Sam was also a gifted student, a member of Phi Beta Kappa who went on to earn a B.S. degree in Mathematics from the University of Hawaii and an M.S. degree in Physics from the University of New Mexico. Sam ultimately settled in Southern California, enjoying a 51-year career as an aerospace engineer with Hughes Aircraft/Raytheon where he wrote two books on multiple radar target tracking. Sam was widely considered by his peers both locally and worldwide to be the foremost expert in his field, as his work is still being used today by the newest generation of engineers working in this field.
In addition to his career accomplishments, Sam was most proud of his loving family. He is survived by his wife Susie and two sons, Kenneth and James. Kenneth received his MBA from Columbia University and lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut while James received his B.A. from Stanford University and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Sam was also the proud grandfather of Alyssa, Drew, and Maya, who are all very grateful to have had such a generous and kind person in their lives.
Sam will be missed by all who had the chance to have him in their lives. Until the day that he died, he was proud to be just a regular, hardworking kid from New Milford who went on to be universally recognized as the best in the world in his specialized engineering field.
Memorial contributions may be made in Sam's name to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. (https://www.michaeljfox.org/).