Dr. Richard (Dick) C. Singleton, a distinguished Mathematical Statistician and Computer Scientist, passed away at his daughter’s home on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007. He was 79 years old.
A memorial service was held for family and friends of Dick Singleton at his home at 2130 Rocky Ridge Road in Morgan Hill on Sunday, April 15. This remarkable man will be deeply missed by many.
Dr. Singleton, raised in Portland, Oregon, was an alumnus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS & MS in Electrical Engineering) and of Stanford University (Masters of Business Administration) (MS in Mathematics) (PhD in Theoretical Statistics).
His decades of research included seminal work in mathematical and computer data sorting algorithms, artificial intelligence, and quantitative legal analysis. Dr. Singleton worked for SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute) for 39 years, during which he patented computer sorting programs, created math algorithms related to the Fourier transform, and introduced a concept named for him, known as the “Singleton bound.” In the early 1970’s while at SRI, he collaborated with Lawrence Pinneo on a DARPA project in what is considered to have been the first successful attempt at reading the human mind by a computer. He received honors from the Research Society of America and authored or coauthored numerous articles.
In his earlier days, Dr. Singleton, father of 6, flew from California to Alabama to join Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s followers on the walk from Selma to Montgomery. He was an avid sailor and navigator. He was also a former member of the Palo Alto Folk Singing Group and a lover of jazz. Dr. Singleton appreciated fine wine and fabulous food. His lifelong interest in nature encompassed astronomy, birds, and California native grasses and flowers, which he championed. His life was shared with his devoted Golden Retrievers, and he never went far without a mystery novel in his hand.
He is survived by his wife Sibyl Singleton of Morgan Hill; his 6 daughters and sons: Pamela Singleton Martin (Jeff) of Gilroy, Peter C. Singleton of Menlo Park, Nancy Singleton Hachisu (Tadaaki) of Japan, Gordon M. Singleton (Ellen) of Concord, Lisa Singleton Quijano (Mauricio) of Morgan Hill and Martin S. Singleton of Urbana, IL; 2 step sons: Ian Mitchell of Santa Cruz and Derek Mitchell (Anita) of San Anselmo; 10 grandchildren: Brandon & Patrick Martin; Olga & Alycia Singleton; Christopher, Andrew & Matthew Hachisu; Samantha, Nicholas & Gabriel Quijano; 1 great grandson: Dimitri Flores; 3 siblings: Dorothy Ayers of Bellevue, WA, Ken Singleton (Fumi) of Portola Valley & Marta Powers (Peter) of Eugene, OR.
Memorial donations may be sent to NorCal Golden Retriever Rescue, 405 El Camino Real, Suite 420, Menlo Park, CA 94025-5240.
The Habing Family Funeral Home, 129 Fourth St, Gilroy, CA 95020 [(408) 847-4040] will be coordinating all memorial arrangements.
