Terence Edward Needham

Terry was born on Thanksgiving Day, 1944 to James and Rachel Needham in San Francisco, California. He grew up in Denver, Colorado, the middle of three children. He is survived by his sister, Jill Mithun.

Terry excelled in the sciences, as well as in music and art. He won a full scholarship to Harvey Mudd College, where his classmates said, “he never seemed to have to study”. From there he was accepted into the Phd program at the University of Illinois, Champagne/Urbana, in Chemistry. He received his degree in 1972, following which he spent several years in postdoctoral training at Los Alamos, New Mexico. His area of study was in the structural chemistry of crystals via nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. Terry was then hired by the Defense Industry, where his area of expertise became underwater acoustic signal interpretation. He maintained a Top Secret security clearance for the duration of the Cold War.

Terry met the love of his life, Jeannie, in 1985 and they were married in 1986. They spend 38 years together. After enduring years of infertility, they were blessed with two wonderful sons, Max and Matthew. Terry’s love for them was boundless. To say he was involved in their nurturing is an understatement. From preschool to high school, their well-being was paramount to him. He coached, kept meticulous statistics, and videotaped baseball and basketball games. He also acted as their tutor, allowing them to completely skip SAT prep classes.

Perhaps Terry’s finest character traits were his kindness and patience. He was a man of few words but had massive knowledge to impart. Partially because of his quiet nature, the decline in his health was not immediately noticeable. But by 2016 we knew something was wrong. He was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia in 2017, and was released from his struggles with it on 7/15/2024. We thank the entire staff at Saint Paul’s McColl Rehab and Skilled Nursing facility. They tenderly cared for him for nearly 3 years.

The service will be held at 10 am at our home at 2409 Presidio Drive, San Diego, CA 92103 on Saturday, October 26, 2024. Lunch will follow. Please RSVP by Oct 12 to Jeannie at [email protected] if you plan to attend.