Joshua Shefer
Joshua Shefer (November 1, 1924 – April 3, 2024)
Joshua Shefer died peacefully at his home on April 3, 2024, at age 99. He enjoyed most of the things he loved – visiting with family, sharing meals, walking outside – until the last few months when his body just started to come to the end of a life well lived.
Born in 1924 in Leipzig, Germany, to Chaim and Esther Spector, Joshua immigrated with his family to Tel Aviv in 1932. He attended the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1949. He also served as an army officer in the Israeli war of independence (1948-49). During the war, Joshua met Sarah Porath. Joshua and Sarah were married in the autumn of 1950. In the early 1950s, Joshua and Sarah went to London for graduate school, where they each completed PhD degrees from London University in 1955, he in Electrical Engineering and she in Biochemistry. They returned to Israel and in 1956 Joshua joined the Electronics Research Laboratories of the Israeli Ministry of Defense where he headed the Microwave R&D Division. During this time, he lectured at the Technion on microwave theory and techniques. In 1958 Joshua accepted an assignment in the Diplomatic Service as the Scientific Attaché at the Israeli Embassy in London. After this assignment, the family moved to Boston, where Joshua joined the Gordon McKay Laboratory, Harvard University as a Research Fellow, working on antenna problems.
In 1962, the family moved to New Jersey where Joshua took a research position at Bell Telephone Laboratories. A few years later he joined RCA Laboratories in Princeton, NJ, and worked there until his retirement in 1991. One focus of his research was on new microwave solid state devices for communication systems as well as for highway safety applications. He and his colleagues developed one of the first collision avoidance systems for automobiles.
Joshua was predeceased by his wife Sarah after nearly 70 wonderful years of marriage, and by his sister Pnina and brother Ze’ev. His immediate family includes his loving children, Ruth (Earl), David and Abigail (Donald); his devoted grandchildren, Alex (Carolina), Michael (Roxanne), Jordan, and Megan; and his great grandchildren Joaquim and Sarah.
Joshua greatly enjoyed spending time with his family and friends and travelling the world. He loved to be on the water and had a lifelong interest in sailing, first on lakes in New Jersey, then later off the coast of New York and in the Caribbean. He was a voracious reader of history and always kept current on politics and the news. Joshua had a great smile and people warmed to his kindness and intellect wherever he went.
On Sunday April 7th, there will be a graveside service at Sharon Memorial Park at 12:45 pm.
Contributions in Joshua’s memory may be made to Mass General Hospital https://giving.massgeneral.org/donate