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Robert Pattison Tidd ’68

A picture of Robert Tidd

Robert Tidd with his children in 1987

Robert Pattison Tidd ’68, December 2011, in Walnut Creek, California, following a long illness. Bob earned a BA in physics from Reed. His recollection of his Reed years included memories of folk dancing in the student union and watching the sun set over the west hills—“I still keep track of nature, the season, and phases of the moon,” he wrote years later. After graduation, he worked as a computer programmer at the University of Oregon Medical School. In 1978, he was appointed senior programmer at UC Berkeley and was the principal author of the INP database system. He balanced his technical side with recreational interests such as mountain sports, sailing, kayaking, and windsurfing. He played recorder and accordion and practiced Vipassana Buddhist meditation. He was a ham radio operator, call sign KJ6CS, and performed amateur and emergency radio services in the U.S. and in 30 countries. In 1981, he married educational consultant Debra H. Eglit; they had a son and daughter. Bob was an early member of the Bay Area Country Dance Society. “Longtime Berkeley dancers will remember Bob as a beautiful dancer and charming person,” wrote dance society member Mary Luckhardt. “Bob loved the beautiful dances like ‘Easter Morn,’ dances he called floaters because they made him feel he was floating a few inches off the floor. He also delighted in our wonderful music. We will miss him very much.”

Appeared in Reed magazine: June 2012