Richard Emerick Reiss ’39

Dick died at his home in Weston, Mass., Jan. 5, 2009. He had been a Weston resident for 37 years.  

Dick had a long career as a sales, marketing, and product-development specialist in the analytical-instrumentation business, and helped introduce atomic absorption spectroscopy — a new lifesaving technology — into the country in the 1960s. He worked at Sperry Corp., Baird Atomic, PerkinElmer, Aztec Instruments (his own company), and ESA, from which he retired in 1988. He loved the sea and boating and beachcombing with his family in his favorite places, including Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., and Penobscot Bay, Maine.

Dick’s first wife, Lorraine, died following a three-year illness after 44 years of marriage. He is survived by their two children, Robert and Helen; his second wife, Shirley Schiff Reiss; and Shirley’s two children, Andre and Claire Schiff. They remember him as a kind, caring, and generous husband, father, and friend. We offer them our sincere sympathy.