Claude R. Engle III

ENGLE

CLAUDE R. ENGLE III

It is with very sad hearts that we announce the passing of Claude Engle, peacefully at the age of 85 on December 3, 2023, in Ottawa, Canada. Claude was born on March 30, 1938 in Washington, DC to Claude and Ruth Engle.



As a youngster, Claude loved magic, model building, car racing, and theatre. Claude graduated from Landon School and went on to Princeton University where he majored in Electrical Engineering. At Princeton, Claude designed lighting for the Triangle Club and the Savoyards. He graduated from Princeton in 1960 and moved to New York City to work for Stanley McCandless and Edward Kook at Century Lighting. In 1962 he was drafted into the army and worked designing lighting for movies for the army. His commanding officer also loved car racing, and in a secret room they had a model race car track on which they raced cars they'd built.



In 1963, married to Margaret Graham, he moved back to Washington, DC to work for his father's firm General Engineering. He and Margaret became parents of Claude, Alexandra, and Douglas. Through his wife, he met Bruce Graham, a partner of SOM Chicago. Bruce hired him to do the lighting for the Sears Tower, Hancock Tower, and many other iconic towers. During that time he met Edison Price and started working with Minoru Yamasaki with whom he designed the lighting for the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. Claude went onto collaborate with Philip Johnson, I.M. Pei, Harry Seidler, Arthur Erickson, Norman Foster, Rafael Viñoly, and Craig Hartman on many iconic buildings around the world.



In Washington, Claude designed the lighting for the East Wing Gallery, the Canadian Chancery, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean Memorial, the Japanese American Memorial, and City Center DC among many more projects.



In 1981 Claude married Danielle David, a Canadian architect, with whom he also worked to design the lighting for the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank in Hong Kong, the Louvre in Paris, the Reichstag in Berlin, and the Tokyo Forum, as well as many other projects. In 1996 she passed away from cancer.



Claude loved sailing and was the navigator in racing crews. He also ran race committees on the Chesapeake Bay for nearly 15 years. His other passion was skiing. He lived almost half of each year in Skt. Anton, Austria. He also loved the theatre and took advantage of his jet set life to see as many shows in London and New York as he saw in Washington.



In 1998 Claude married Francine David in Montreal. They enjoyed life in Gibson Island, MD, Longboat Key, FL, Pine Point, ME, and finally Ottawa. They travelled extensively pursuing their passions in art, theatre and cuisine. In retirement, he gave classes on architecture through the lens of lighting design, and in Kennebunkport he worked as a docent at the Seashore Trolley Museum. Together, they enjoyed the beaches in Florida and Maine, and spending time with their family.



Claude is survived by his three children Claude (Asli Kes), Sandra Gichner (late Steven Gichner) and Douglas (Honor Spire) and two stepchildren, Caroline Sullivan (Elliot Brown) and Patrick Sullivan. His great joy late in life were his 10 grandchildren: Frances, Cecilia and Eliza Gichner, Charlie and Christopher Engle, Claude and Ozan Engle-Kes, Marleau and Remy Brown, and Emily Sullivan.



A private funeral will be held this weekend in Washington, DC for family and friends and Claude will be interred in Georgetown's Oak Hill Cemetery.



In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Alzheimer's Society would be much appreciated in the hope that, one day, we will see the end of this heartbreaking disease.