Trained as an electrical engineer, Oliver was pivotal in the flowering of modern technology in the Silicon Valley. It was under his leadership that the first hand-held calculators were produced at Hewlett-Packard in the early 1970s. Later in his career, he founded Biosys Inc., a company specializing in biological controls for agriculture, and turned his attention to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Born in Santa Cruz, Oliver graduated from Stanford and received master's and doctoral degrees from the California Institute of Technology. In 1940, he joined the Bell Telephone Laboratories in New York. Initially he worked on schemes for improving the quality of then-new television systems, but shifted his attention to radar after the United States became involved in World War II.
His enthusiasm for this work caused him initially to reject an invitation by fellow Stanford alumni William Hewlett and David Packard to join their growing electronics company in Palo Alto. But a year later, in 1952, he became HP's director of research.
In his book "The HP Way," David Packard noted that by 1957 the company had 90 engineers working on product development. They decided to organize them into four product-development teams. Each group "had a senior engineering head reporting to Dr. Bernard Oliver. That was Barney Oliver, our old friend from Stanford whom we managed to entice from Bell Laboratories in 1952. We appointed him vice president of research and development."
He also joined the company's board of directors at that time.
Oliver held more than 50 patents and was the architect of much of the ground-breaking technical development at Hewlett-Packard. He is probably best known for his work on the HP-35, the first hand-held calculator. The possibility of such a device occurred as Hewlett-Packard engineers were considering what product should follow the successful HP 9100A, a programmable desktop electronic calculator which used discrete components.
In 1970 integrated circuits, which combined many such components in one package, were just becoming available. "We realized that if we took the 9100 and converted it to integrated circuits we could miniaturize it and carry it in our shirt pockets," said Oliver in a later interview. Hewlett liked the idea, and gave Oliver's group a year to develop the product.
The HP 35 calculator was introduced in 1972. "About a month before its release, Barney Oliver gave samples of the 35 to several leading engineers and Nobel physicists," Packard wrote. "The crowds they drew when casually showing off this 'toy' at meetings and conventions probably accounted for our being unable to meet the initial demands for the 35 and later the programmable HP 65."
Oliver received the 1986 National Medal of Science for this work. He also served as a vice president and later as president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
One of the many HP leaders to be actively involved in community activities, Oliver served on the Palo Alto school board from 1961 to 1973.
"I admired him very much. He had a brilliant mind," said Aggie Robinson, who served with him on the school board. "He had very definite opinions. Sometimes I agreed with him, sometimes I didn't, but I always admired him."
At the same time he was developing miniaturized calculators, Oliver co-directed a summer study at NASA's Ames Research Center on a scheme to use radio telescopes to search for evidence of advanced extraterrestrial societies. This study, called Project Cyclops, became the basis for much of the modern SETI effort. Prominent among these was an ambitious NASA program for which Oliver served as a senior manager. In 1993, when congressional action ended NASA involvement in SETI, Oliver was instrumental in finding philanthropic funding to continue part of the experiment under the auspices of the non-profit SETI Institute in Mountain View, where he was also a board member. At the time of his death, he was working as a senior scientist for Project Phoenix, as the privatized search is called.
In 1945 he married Priscilla "Suki" Newton, who died in December 1994. He was a supporter of the Los Altos Repertory Company, where his wife often performed.
He is survived by three children, Karen Newton Oliver of Vancouver, B.C., Gretchen More Oliver of San Francisco and William Eric Oliver of San Francisco.
A memorial service will be held Dec. 1, at 2 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto. Memorial contributions may be made to the SETI Institute, 2035 Landings Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043.
A resident of Los Altos Hills, he founded the food processing company in 1980. The privately owned and operated corporation, located on Park Boulevard, has the second largest freeze-drying capacity in the United States and provides ingredients to such companies as McCormick Schilling, Maruchan, See's Candy and Knorr soups.
But his family says he will be best remembered as a generous soul, someone who provided river rafting equipment to the singles ministry at his church on the condition of anonymity.
"He was the classiest, most dignified man I've ever known," said his wife, Lana Mercer. "He was full of kindness."
Mercer received an engineering degree from the University of Kentucky, and then went to work for the Air Reduction Research Laboratory. Early in his career he learned the fundamentals of dehydration technology. From 1966 to 1971 he was chief development engineer for Hills Brothers Coffee Inc. in San Francisco, where he was granted 47 U.S. and foreign patents.
He was an avid and world-class river rafter, having traveled down major rivers in North and South America and the Zambizi River in Africa.
He also was actively involved with the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. He and a friend, Bill Boersig, traveled on regular river rafting trips with members of the church's singles ministry.
He is survived by his wife, Lana Mercer of Los Altos Hills; three children, Pamela Denney of San Jose, Nicole Noland of Menlo Park and Sarah Mercer of Santa Cruz; two stepchildren, Nicole McIntyre of Los Altos Hills and Brandon McIntyre of Sunnyvale; three sisters; a brother; and four grandchildren.
Memorial services will be held Nov. 29 at 4:30 p.m at the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, 950 Santa Cruz Ave. Burial will be Nov. 30 at noon at Alta Mesa Memorial Park on Arastradero Road in Palo Alto.
Charlotte Hutchinson Grispino
Charlotte Hutchinson Grispino, 80, died of bone cancer Nov. 3 in San Diego County. She was a free-lance writer and longtime resident of Los Altos. Her articles appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Sacramento Union, San Diego Union and Guideposts Magazine. She co-founded Booktasters, an ongoing Palo Alto women's literary group, and served as vice president of the California Writer's Club in Sacramento. She also volunteered for the Braille Society and several hospice groups. She is survived by her husband, Joseph Grispino of Lake San Marcos; a son, Thomas Hutchison of Bend, Ore.; three daughters, Patty Yates of Sunnyvale, Teri Issenmann of Mebane, N.C., and Peggy Hutchinson of Riverdale, Md.; and two grandchildren.
John James Morris III
John James Morris III, 70, died of emphysema on Nov. 23. He was born in Wilmington, Del., and attended Princeton University. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked for Raychem Corporation for 27 years. He was an active member of the Palo Alto YMCA and a resident of Palo Alto for 38 years. He is survived by his wife, Mary Morris of Palo Alto; a son, John J. Morris IV of Santa Cruz; two daughters, Jean Dokter and Patty Ingvardsen, both of Sunnyvale; and three grandchildren. Contributions can be made to the Palo Alto YMCA, 755 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306.
James Olin Roberts
James Olin Roberts, 87, died Nov. 26. He was born in Kalamazoo, Mich., and graduated from the University of Michigan. He received naval flight training at Pensacola, Fla., and in went to work for Pan American World Airways in 1937. He moved to Palo Alto in 1946 and was a life member of the Palo Alto Elks Lodge. He was also one of the original Clipper Pioneers. He is survived by his wife, Jessie Roberts of Palo Alto; three children, Mary Roberts of Palo Alto, Mike Roberts of Laurel, Miss., and Pat Roberts of Palo Alto; three grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. A memorial service will be held Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. in the First Lutheran Church, 600 Homer Ave., Palo Alto. Contributions can be made to Shriner's Hospital, 1701 19th Ave., San Francisco, CA 94122.
David E. Weed
David E. Weed, 74, died Nov. 19 after suffering a stroke while vacationing in Puerto Rico. He was a Palo Alto resident for 25 years before moving to Los Altos in 1994. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served in World War II on the USS Dewey and USS O'Brien. He worked as a stockbroker for 40 years, retiring in 1991 from Kidder Peabody. He was a longtime member of the Palo Alto Elks Club and the Foothill Tennis and Swim Club. He is survived by his wife, Lona Weed of Los Altos; two sons, Steven Weed of Menlo Park and Kenneth Weed of Novato; two sisters, Jane McGuire and Nancy Weed of New York; a brother, Lawrence Weed of Vermont; and two grandsons. Contributions can be made to the Salvation Army, P.O. Box 51538, Palo Alto, CA 94303.
Obituaries are a free editorial service. Information should be submitted, typewritten, no later than 9 a.m. Monday for Wednesday's paper or 5 p.m. Wednesday for Friday's paper. Send to: Obituaries, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302, or fax to 326-3928. Please include a contact name and telephone number. The Weekly reserves the right to edit obituaries for space and format considerations.
Back up to the Table of Contents Page