#147) Robert "Bob" Chambers, 1935 - 2016

The other day, Georgine Archer unexpectedly discovered Bob Chambers’ obituary in the May 2, 2016 issue of The Record-Courier, serving Minden-Gardnerville & Carson Valley, NV.

As most Libravets know, Bob was a very highly regarded systems engineer at Librascope who made many important contributions. In 1989, for example, he was the AN/BSY-2 Program Director. See page 2 of the December 22, 1989 Librazette (click here).

Bob's 2016 obituary follows:

Robert "Bob" Chambers, long-time resident of Gardnerville, Nevada, passed away at home on Friday, April 1, 2016. Bob and his wife Brenda moved to Gardnerville in 2001 from June Lake, California. Bob loved the Sierras and his new home in Gardnerville. He became active in the community as a member of the Douglas County Library Board and as President and Treasurer of Friends of the Library. Bob was born in Los Angeles, California on May 26, 1935 and lived most of his life in Burbank before retiring to June Lake in 1997. He was a graduate of UCLA and had an MBA from Pepperdine University. Bob was a consummate engineer and spent his entire working career of more than 30 years with Singer- Librascope in Glendale.California. After retiring to June Lake, Bob became involved in various community projects including the June Lake Water Board, the Mono County Library, and Friends of the Bodie Railroad. Bob's smile, energy and hugs will be missed by family and friends. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Brenda, son Richard (Pamela) of Downey, California, grandchildren Jamie Chambers of Minden, Jeffrey Chambers of Simi Valley, California and Steven Chambers of Huntington Beach, California. Bob was preceded in death by granddaughter Bridget Chambers. Bob will also be missed by former daughter-in-law Terri Chambers of Minden and step grandchildren Stacey Tauson of Los Angeles and Stephanie Tauson of Downey, California. A memorial event will be planned for a later date. Arrangements were in the trusted care of Autumn Funerals & Cremations.

PS - Bob’s wife, Brenda, passed away December 3, 2016. She was 82 years old.

#145) Moving a Canadian Oberon Class “O” Boat was on TV.

Thanks to Libravet Steve Dietrich for the following report.

Carl,
I was watching a program recently on the Smithsonian Channel called “Humongous Moves”, and it was about a group moving a retired Canadian Oberon Class “O” boat to become a museum.

Having worked a little bit on MK 1 Mod C in the training department back in the early 80’, I was kind of shocked to hear they were all retired forgetting it has been over 30 years since we developed the system.

Anyway, I was doing some reading about the boats on Wikipedia and found this photo of the Mk 1 Mod C fire control system from the HMCS Onondaga. Man, did that bring back memories. I did notice that the bullnose has been removed from one of the units. You can even make out the Singer nameplate.

In fact, the Onondaga is being preserved as a museum in Rimouski, New Brunswick.

I worked in Customer Training for a couple of years after getting out of the Navy before moving to Installation Engineering and then Product Engineering. Most of the time I was farmed out to Arnold Peters. I worked on VLA, Mk 2 and BSY-2 and a mod for the MK 48 WDC before leaving in 1991. Once in awhile, I drive by the old complex when I am in the area and think back to the “Good ole days”.

One thing I wish could be done to the Librascope Memories web site is to have a “Memoriam” page for the Libravets who have passed. Georgine Archer had something like that at one time. I think it would be nice.

Anyway, just wanted to pass the photo along.

Best regards,
Steve Dietrich
Librascope Feb '82 – July '91

#77) Two New Photo Albums Published on LM

In case you haven't checked the Librascope Memories (LM) website recently, two new 1990's vintage photo albums were published there earlier this month.

1995 Service Awards Luncheon Collage

The first album contains 18 candid photos that were taken at the 1995 Service Awards Luncheon hosted by Ed Arnold, Librascope President, at the Cinnabar in Glendale. The service awards were for those senior Libravets who had recently celebrated a major award anniversary with Librascope. Carl Sorensen, VP of Quality and Resource Management, presided over the ceremony. Other attendees included Don Barton, Ralph Simon, Stacy Lavender, Tom Charbonneau, Tom Cuda, Ray Hand, Larry Anderson, Margie Boudinot, Joseph Collin, and Peter Chang.

BSY-2 Collage

The second photo album is an assortment of BSY-2 pictures. During the early 1990's, Librascope was in full production of the BSY-2 Fire Control System Program for the U.S. Navy. During this time there were many visits by the Navy to attend periodic program reviews, and tour the manufacturing facility where they could inspect the systems being built for the Navy's new Seawolf attack submarine program.

Both of these photo albums may be accessed from the Photos section on www.librascopememories.com. Click here to go directly to the Photos section, and simply click on the album you wish to view.