Lasting Memories

Robert Michael Scarlett
Nov. 10, 1928-Sept. 18, 2015
Palo Alto, California

Robert Michael Scarlett, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died Sept 18 after a brief illness. He was 86.

Robert was born on Nov. 10, 1928, in Iowa City. He grew up in Calgary, graduated with honors from University of Toronto, where he also then received a fellowship for post-graduate work and earned his masters in engineering physics, specializing in servo-mechanics. After Toronto, he was awarded an engineering fellowship for Stanford University, where he completed his Ph.D. and became an associate professor. The same year he entered Stanford, his father, Earle P. Scarlett, a prominent Canadian physician, was appointed as the chancellor to The University of Alberta. The Earle P. Scarlett High School now exists in Calgary, Canada.

He married Pat Scarlett, who became a California artist, in Alberta, Canada, in 1951, prior to moving Palo Alto. They then had two children, who they raised in Palo Alto.

An engineer, he spent 40 years working in the telecommunications industry in the area, at ITT Semiconductors, TWR Vidar and Vista Labs Inc, as well as other companies. After retiring, he continued to do consulting work.

An avid musician and lover of early and baroque music, he built harpsichords, a Forte piano, studied music, played in weekly small ensembles, and enjoyed concerts and traveling to The Aspen Music Festival in summers and the International Harpsichord Festival in Bruges. He was also affiliated with The San Francisco Early Music Society. He not only enjoyed many trips to Italy but also studied the language.

A dog lover, he fostered and adopted many dogs through German Shepard Rescue of Northern California and Golden Gate Labrador Retriever Rescue.

He was also an audio buff, beginning with becoming a ham radio operator as a Calgary teenager, and then more recently he enjoyed restoring classic vintage radios and built much of his own stereo equipment. A do-it-yourselfer, he built much of his furniture, and even the family's first Heathkit television.

He loved literature, and he also read widely on many topics including physics, musicology and civilization.

A kind soul and a humanitarian, he donated annually to many wildlife and conservation organizations. He enjoyed the outdoors and family camping trips to the Sierras and the Tetons. His family remembers him as always being helpful no matter the circumstances. He cared for his ex-wife, Pat Scarlett, during the last year of her life.

Civically, he volunteered at the Stanford Health Library from 2001 to 2009, receiving a Volunteer of the Year award for his efforts. Post retirement, he also tutored local students.

During his years in the Bay Area, he resided on DeSoto Drive, Waverley Street in Professorsville, and then in Midtown Palo Alto for 30 years.

He is survived by his daughters, Nora Scarlett of New Paltz, New York, and Robin Scarlett of Aspen, Colorado; his two grandchildren, Lowell Deutschlander and Zoe Borris; and by his sisters, Betty Dorotich of Summerland, British Columbia, and Kay Aubanel of Saint-Lambert, Quebec, Canada.