Robert Sidney Siebert

Robert Sidney Siebert, 88, passed away in Irvine, California on January 31, 2024, after a long illness. Bob was born on February 10, 1935 in Los Angeles to Sidney and Norah Siebert. The family settled in North Hollywood, California in 1945.

After graduating from North Hollywood High School in 1952, he went on to study Engineering at UCLA, graduating with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. In 1958, he began working at Collins Radio in Burbank and subsequently earned a M.S. in Engineering from Cal State University, Long Beach. His career lasted through the transition of Collins to Rockwell to Boeing until his retirement in Newport Beach in 1990.

In 1960, he married Anna Sutton in North Hollywood; they moved to Orange County when Collins Radio relocated to Newport Beach. At the time of his retirement from Rockwell, Bob founded his own solar-electric company called Energy Efficiency Solar, Inc., 1989, while continuing to work part-time for four more years as a technical writer for Rockwell. He installed Orange County’s first grid-tied solar photovoltaic system at his home in Orange. He sold his company in 2000, but continued on as an advisor.

Bob’s key interest was a concern for the environment. He was a sixty year member of the Sierra Club, active in the Orange County Conservation Committee, a regular participant on trail maintenance trips, leader and assistant on local hikes, and speaker at many Club and local high school events with presentations on climate change and solar energy.

His favorite outdoor activities were skiing, backpacking and cycling. Although Bob enjoyed travel in the U.S. and abroad with Anna, friends and family, backpacking in the local mountains and Sierra Nevada was always his first choice. At home, he enjoyed working on his electric car conversions, woodworking and gardening. He loved dogs and almost always had a golden retriever walking companion, having six of this breed during his married life.

Bob will be remembered for his kindness and thoughtfulness of others. He was an adamant supporter of the causes he cared about, especially those concerning the Earth’s preservation. His ingenuity, quiet manner and dry sense of humor earned him many friends and the everlasting love of his family.

He was preceded in death by his sister Sandra Knowles, and brother James Siebert. He is survived by his wife Anna and golden retriever, Rusty.