Bernard Edward Mc Taggart Jr.

Born in Boston, Mass. on May 6, 1929, he was the son of Bernard E. and Mary A. (White) McTaggart of Milton, Mass. He graduated from Milton High School and attended Wagner School of Art in Boston. He was a professional sign painter for Donnelly Advertising in Boston from 1947 to 1951. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on Jan. 12, 1951 and was sent to Syracuse University in New York for one year to study Russian language. He was stationed in Germany from 1952 to 1954 as a Russian language specialist.

He married his sweetheart, the former Marlene Hickson of Watertown, Mass., in Kaufbeuren, Germany on Aug. 27, 1953. Upon his honorable discharge from the military in 1954, he returned to Donnelly Advertising and became a pictorial artist at the Worcester, Mass. operation. While working as an artist he attended Boston University and graduated with honors with a BA in physics in 1959. He made a career move then from artist to scientist. He joined the Raytheon Co. Submarine Signal Division in Portsmouth, RI in 1959, and from 1970 to 1975 was manager of the Acoustics Engineering Dept. While at Raytheon he took graduate courses in electrical engineering and management at the University of Rhode Island and received an MBA in 1972.

He joined Tracor Co. in Rockville, Maryland, from 1970 to 1975 as a senior scientist in support of the U.S. Navy’s major sonar transducer programs, and in 1980 he joined the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC as a project engineer. He lectured extensively in sonar transducer technology with Catholic University in Washington, DC. In 1985 he was offered a job as head of the Transducer Advanced Development Branch at the Naval Undersea Systems Center in New London, Conn., and two years later he was made head of the Transducer and Hull Arrays Division at that laboratory. He held this position until his retirement in 1997.

Mr. McTaggart received numerous awards and was highly respected nationally and internationally for his contribution to the field of sonar transducer technology. He authored numerous papers on the subject and lectured extensively. He was a chairman for many years on the International Committee for Undersea Defense Technology (UDT), and was honored with a lifetime membership in the Acoustical Society of America.

Throughout his professional career he loved painting and drawing. He won many awards for his oil paintings, including a first prize in 2003 at the Mystic Arts Center for his painting “Bring on the Night.” He was a devoted communicant at Christ the King Parish in Old Lyme, Conn.

He was a devoted father and dearly loved his wife of 57 years and his family. He is also survived by two sons and one daughter, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. They were all cherished equally. He will be sorely missed by his wife Marlene, his son Paul McTaggart and wife Susan of Boxford, Mass.; his son Stephen McTaggart and wife Carol of Hope Valley, RI; his daughter Laura Stroebel and husband Kenneth of Salem, Conn.; his grandchildren Karlene McTaggart of Providence, RI; Ryan McTaggart of Salem, Mass. and Meghan McTaggart of Beverly, Mass.; Erin McTaggart of Boxford, Mass.; Greta and Kiefer Stroebel of Salem, Conn.; Jesse McTaggart and wife Amanda and his great-grandson Xhaidien of Cornwall, England.

He was predeceased by his brother James of Milton, Mass. He is also survived by two sisters, Louise McGrath of Foxboro, Mass. and Sister Elaine McTaggart of Sisters of Notre Dame, South Boston, Mass.

The Funeral Procession will assemble on Saturday, November 20, 2010 at 9:00am in Fulton-Theroux Funeral Home, 13 Lake Ave., Niantic, CT and will proceed to a 10:00am Mass of Christian Burial in St. Agnes Church, 22 Haigh Ave., Niantic. Burial with Military Honors will follow in Duck River Cemetery, Old Lyme. Please visit www.fulton-theroux.com for tributes and more information.