Robert M. Stein

Robert M. Stein, 82, died on April 2, 2019 of metastatic melanoma. The son of the late Michael and Edna (Smith) Stein, he is survived by his wife of 59 years Gail (Saperstein), his sons David and Richard and daughter-in-law Debra, and his grandchildren Sophie, Julius and Fred. He also leaves his brother Peter and sister-in-law Irene and their children; his brother-in-law Steve Saperstein and his wife, Nancy, and his niece Julie Ray and her husband Ted, and their children, Bella and Theo. He was predeceased by his sister, Jane.

Bob attended Runkle School in Brookline, the Roxbury Latin School and MIT. He retired in 2000 as a Vice President of Raytheon where he managed their Advanced Systems Office. While at Raytheon he was responsible for developing the original concepts for the Patriot Missile, for which he was awarded the Thomas L. Phillips Award for Excellence in Technology, Raytheon’s highest recognition for technical achievement. He held patents in multi-beam radar antenna techniques, published numerous articles on defense technology and taught a wide variety of courses on radar and information theory. As a member of the Defense Science Board he participated in more than 25 studies and, in 2014 was awarded the Eugene Fubini Award by the Secretary of Defense for his unique contributions to defense related systems engineering. Her was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Bob was active in Brookline town government and served as a Town Meeting Member, a member of the Advisory Committee and on the Board of Selectmen, which he chaired for two years. In 1979 he designed and, with his sons’ help, built a vacation home in Vermont which remained his favorite retreat for the rest of his life. When he retired in 2000, he fulfilled a lifelong dream when, with his indulgent wife, he took a ten-thousand-mile motorcycle ride across the country. He continued to ride until he put his bike away for the winter in October.

A memorial service will be held at Levine Chapel, 470 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA on Sunday, April 7th at 2pm. Memorial observances will be held at his late residence on Sunday following the service until 8pm, and Monday, from 2 until 4pm and 6 until 8pm. In lieu of flowers a contribution in Bob’s name to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in support of Dr. Elizabeth Buchbinder’s research at 10 Brookline Place West, 6th floor, Brookline MA 02445 would be appreciated.