Paul L. Rice
Nov. 24, 1926-March 9, 2011
Palo Alto, California
Paul L. Rice passed away on March 9, 2011, at his home in Palo Alto at the age of 84.
He was born on Nov. 24, 1926, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, and attended King Edward VI Aston School. On the eve of World War II in 1939, he was evacuated with the school to the country location of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire. He joined the Air Training Corps but the war concluded before he could pilot an Avro Lancaster bomber on which he trained.
In 1949, he earned a degree in electrical engineering from Birmingham City University while under a student apprenticeship with the General Electric Company, Ltd. After graduation, he moved to Bournemouth, England, where he opened an electrical equipment business, and also became a magician and member of the British Magical Society -- the oldest fraternity of its kind in the world.
In 1951, Mr. Rice sailed into New York harbor on the RMS Caronia en route to Toronto, Canada, where he assumed the position of general manager of the Sylvania manufacturing operation. In 1959, he moved to Chicago, Ill., to join The Pritzker Group. His work took him to locations in North America and Europe, and included an assignment related to the opening of the Ricky's Hyatt House in Palo Alto.
He joined IIT Research Institute in 1963 and formed Associated Management Engineers in 1969, where his management consulting included work for the city of Chicago with the late Mayor Richard J. Daley. He was a founding member of the Institute of Management Consultants.
Mr. Rice moved to California in 1979 and joined the Palo Alto product consulting firm GVO, Inc. as administrative vice president. He became general manager of the west coast office of design firm Dave Ellies and Associates in 1982.
In retirement, Mr. Rice authored the book "Timesource," published in 1989 by Ten Speed Press, pursued his hobby of HO-scale model-making, and took particular pleasure in exploring the English language and American life with scholars from Korea, Japan, and Italy who visited Stanford University.
Mr. Rice was married to Beryl Gummay for 17 years, until her passing, and is survived by his wife of 31 years, the former Joyce Anne Rock, and his son, Peter Allen Rice, of Bradenton, Fla.
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