Dean N. Arden

Dean Norman Arden peacefully passed away on November 4, 2018 in San Diego.  He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 3, 1925 to Wesley and Clare Arden.  

In 1943, upon graduation from Upper Darby High School in Pennsylvania, he enlisted in the Marines assigned to the Marine Division of the Navy Officer Training Unit at the University of Michigan.  While training as a Marine, he completed two Bachelor of Science degrees in Engineering Mathematics and Electrical Engineering graduating in 1946.  He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves until 1951 earning the rank of First Lieutenant.  After the Marine Corps, Purdue University is where he received a PhD in Mathematics in 1957.  From 1954-1957, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Labs, he was a member of the team who built and programmed the first real-time digital computer named ‘Whirlwind’.  It was at Lincoln labs where he met and married Marguerite “Peg” Mackey and they both appeared in the documentary ‘Making Electrons Count’.  He was Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT from 1956-1962.  After MIT, he worked for the United Nations for a year supporting the installation of the first mainframe computer in Taiwan.  Upon return from Taiwan, he accepted a position at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY as the Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering from 1964-1972.  Dean then established the department of Computer Science at the State University of New York at Albany from 1972-1991 achieving the title Professor Emeritus upon his retirement.  He authored two books and several articles on computer processing and held a patent for a tabulating machine.  He was also a member and President of the Shenendehowa Central Schools (Clifton Park, NY) School Board for many years and ran for town office in Clifton Park. In retirement, he studied Spanish in Spain and Costa Rica and served on committees for the town of Mashpee, MA.  He sang in church choirs all his life and loved playing the piano. He was also an active runner, hiker, skier, swimmer, sailor, ballroom dancer and bicyclist.  His first wife, Peg, predeceased him. He leaves his second wife, Carole Roy Arden of Naples, FL; brother Bruce (Peggy) Arden of Ann Arbor, MI;  half-sister Carol Kuhn (Ward) and family of Traverse City, MI; children Karen Arden (Paul McRae) of San Diego, CA; Lynn McFarland (Stan) of Hendersonville, NC; Eric Arden (Lori) of Pleasanton, CA; Amy Cook (Vincent) of San Diego, CA; and eight grandchildren.  Niece Michelle Arden (Allen Akin) and family of Palo Alto, CA and nephew Wayne Arden of Brooklyn, NY; and step sons Robert Roy (Teri), David Roy, Bruce Roy (Maggie) and families, all of FL. The memorial service will be held on January 27, 2019 at 12:30 pm at the chapel at North Naples Church, 6000 Goodlette-Frank Rd, Naples FL. A buffet Lunch will be served following the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests consideration of contributions to Silverado Hospice, 3750 Convoy St. #200A, San Diego, CA 92111, or the music fund of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 890 Balour Drive, Encinitas, CA 92024, or the music fund of North Naples Church, 6000 Goodlette-Frank Rd, Naples, FL 34109.

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