Longtime Harvard resident, 2007 Citizen of Note, electrical engineer
Bob Lerner. (File photo)
Robert “Bob” Lerner, 82, who lived in Harvard for more than three decades and had a hand in nearly every aspect of town planning, died at his home in Fayetteville, N.Y., on Dec. 31, 2010.
Bob moved to Harvard with his family in the mid-1970s and was active on town boards for many years, serving on the Planning Board, the Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Energy Advisory Committee, the Harvard Housing Authority, and the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust. In 2007 he was named one of two Citizens of Note for his contributions to the town.
Bob received a doctorate in electrical engineering from MIT in 1959, and made many significant contributions to communication and stealth technology while working at MIT’s Lincoln Lab. His last juried paper was published in 2005.
The Harvard 2007 Annual Report notes: “His engineering mind made him a stickler for details, particularly when it came to zoning bylaws—whether writing or interpreting them.”
He is survived by his wife, Mary Lou Dopyera; his children, Cynthia Bliss of Tewksbury and Susan Lerner of Philadelphia, and their husbands; his brother, Harvey Lerner; and three grandchildren; as well as Mary Lou’s seven grandchildren and daughters Barbara Daley and Suzanne Kuntz and their husbands. He was predeceased by his first wife, Mary Louise Buehl, in 1998.
A memorial service was held in New York Wednesday, Jan. 5. Another memorial service will be held in Harvard Saturday, Feb. 5, at the Unitarian Universalist Church. (Time to be announced.)
Contributions in Bob’s memory can be made to the Harvard Public Library, 4 Pond St., Harvard, MA 01451 or the Riverside Institute, Riparius, NY 12862.
