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Obituaries

CHARLES A. FORTE

A funeral was held Feb. 9 at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Cambridge for Charles A. Forte of Brighton, who died Feb. 3 at age 67. He began working at MIT in 1957 and retired from his position as a technical instructor in the Department of Physics in 1999. He is survived by his wife, Eloise; two sons, Lamar and Darien; a grandson and many nieces and nephews. Forte was buried in Cambridge Cemetery.

BARBARA BERK

A funeral service was held on Feb. 25 at Calvary Episcopal Church in Danvers for Barbara Berk, a former administrative secretary in the Division of Comparative Medicine, who passed away Feb. 21. She was 66 years old.

Berk joined MIT in 1977 and retired in 1994. She is survived by her husband, Edmund of Danvers; four sons, James and his wife, Sandi, of Middleton, Edmund Jr. and his wife. Leanne, of Boxford, Gregory and his wife, Rose, of Newmarket, NH, and Douglas of Danvers; and five grandchildren.

Burial was in Walnut Grove Cemetery in Danvers. Contributions in memory of Berk can be made to the Hospice of North Shore, 10 Elm St., Danvers, MA 01923.

JOHN P. PERRY

John P. Perry, a group leader in radar signal research processing at Lincoln Laboratory for many years, died of cancer at the Hospice House in Fort Myers, Fla., on Feb. 21. He was 77 years old.

Born in in Tonawanda, N.Y. on May 1, 1924, Perry was a second lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. He joined Lincoln Laboratory in 1953 after receiving a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Rochester. He earned the B.S. in mathematics from Oberlin College in 1947.

Perry retired from Lincoln Laboratory in 1984 and moved with his family to Marstons Mills on Cape Cod; they spent winters in Florida. Before he retired, they lived in Acton for 31 years.
He is survived by his wife, Phyllis (Childrey) of Marstons Mills; a daughter, Carol Lloyd of Montgomery, Ala; a son, John, of Northfield; and three grandchildren.

Contributions may be made to MIT to the John P. Perry Memorial Fund to support scholarships in physics and mathematics. Checks should be sent to the Recording Secretary, MIT Office of the Treasurer, 238 Main St., Suite 200, Cambridge, MA 02142.

EDWIN L. CLARKE

Edwin L. Clarke, a member of the sponsored research staff at Lincoln Laboratory, died Feb. 22 at age 96. A resident of Kingston, he was hired by Lincoln Laboratory on June 28, 1954, and retired on July 1, 1971. Names of survivors are not known.

A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on March 13, 2002.

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