An Appreciation: George Dalyrmple – Bedford’s 1998 Citizen of the Year

November 20, 2014
Bedford's George Dalrymple was always at home in a laboratory - Courtesy image
Bedford’s George Dalrymple was always at home in a laboratory – Courtesy image

Submitted by the Dalrymple Family

George Dalrymple - 1930-2014 - Courtesy image
George Dalrymple – 1930-2014 – Courtesy image

George Dalrymple, Bedford’s Citizen of the Year in 1998, died on August 28, 2014, his 84th birthday.

A memorial service will be held at 11 am on Saturday, November 22, at First Church of Christ, Congregational, where he was a member for more than 50 years, serving in many volunteer capacities.

George and his late wife Margaret (Castellon) Dalrymple moved to Bedford in 1958, beginning a family and putting down roots that are firmly anchored in town history.

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In addition to service with many town organizations, George earned his Citizen of the Year nomination through his work with the following boards and town committees: Ad Hoc Charter Review Committee in 1982-1983, 1989-1991, 1997-1998; Cable Television Committee from 1992-2006; Council on Aging from 1993-1998; Election Officer from 1994-1995; Fire Station Addition Building Committee from 1964-1965; Historic District Commission from 1965-1971; School & Municipal Space Needs III from 1998-2001; and the Sketch Plans – Fire Dept. Future Building Needs from 1963-1964.

In 1962 George began a life-long affiliation with the Bedford Community Santa Claus Program, a project in which every child in Bedford who wishes may receive a present during a personal visit at home by a fully costumed Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. He was the checker coordinator from 1963-1992, and rarely missed a Gift Drop Day as a chance to wear his “Bah Humbug” stocking cap or sweatshirt. Even when he was confined to a wheelchair, he participated in both Gift Drop Day and Christmas Eve, imbuing many of his family members with the “Bedford Santa” spirit, such that several of George’s children and grandchildren continue to volunteer with the program.

A fifty-year Mason, George was active in the Masonic and Royal Arch Lodges; he was a member of the Jewell, KS AF&AM Lodge No. 11 and the Richard C. MacLaurin Lodge at MIT where he was a Past Master. He was also a past High Priest of the Royal Arch Lodge in Arlington, MA.

George was an integral member of the Bedford Freight House Museum board which repurposed the railroad’s historic Freight House, helped to create Depot Park, brought the Buddliner back to Bedford, and created an important regional affinity organization for railroad enthusiasts.

Bedford TV also benefitted from George’s attention. He served as a member of Bedford’s first Cable TV Committee for many years, then served as a founding member and Treasurer for Bedford Community Access Television, the 501c(3) non-profit corporation that operates Bedford TV. He was also an active studio volunteer for Talk of the Town and Sportsbeat in the 1980s, serving in the control room and as a cameraman for many community access and local origination programs.

Being the son of a minister, faith was an important part of George’s life. He was a fifty-year member of the First Church of Christ (Congregational) and held various volunteer positions including Deacon, Treasurer, Fall Fair volunteer, Financial Secretary, and many more. He rarely missed being at church, even through his illness. When he wasn’t in the hospital, rehab, or hospice, he would be in church every Sunday.

George graduated from Jewell, KS Rural High School at age 16, one of a dozen seniors whose class advisor was his mother, a teacher at the school.   He received his B.A. degree from Phillips University in Enid, OK in 1951, then attended Rice Institute (later Rice University) in Houston, where he was a graduate assistant in physics. He earned his Master’s degree in low temperature physics in 1954, and was offered a choice of several positions at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratories in Lexington.

He worked as an electrical engineer for Project Mercury and later the Apollo missions. While working with submillimeter radar and Doppler shifts which were to be used in communication with spacecrafts, he had an “aha” moment when he realized that he could measure wind speed and direction. He made the discovery during a test using a B-25 bomber from nearby Hanscom Field flying low over the Bedford water tower to see how to eliminate ground clutter.

After several other experiments, he sent the discovery to the department that worked on weather and eventually Doppler radar came to fruition. His work on the communication and tracking radar for Project Mercury took him on many trips as the radar was tested and deployed prior to the space flights. One of those trips was to Kodiak, AK, which coincided with the first retrieval of film from a satellite.

In 1968, George’s department at Lincoln Labs was severely reduced as the space program funding was drying up. He transferred to MIT’s mechanical engineering department’s Sensory Aids Development and Evaluation Laboratory, working on projects to enable blind people to have increased mobility and to interface with computers (a well-known project was the MIT Braille Embosser – a printer). He also worked on rehabilitation and communication devices for those with cerebral palsy, among many other projects.

He retired from MIT in 1986 after 32 years with MIT and its affiliates.

In college George worked on the transmitter for KGWA, a radio station in Enid, OK. The job spurred him to get his amateur radio license with the call sign W1HEF. He was an active ham radio operator for many years; his call sign was still active until his death, and for many years was on his automobile license plates.

His love of trains began early. At the age of five he received his first wind-up train set, then in 1941 he received his first Lionel electric train set. During the next few years he built many classic model locomotives from Strombecker kits before branching out and building them from scratch.  In Bedford, he built a 180 foot train track in the backyard.  It was a 4 inch spaced track with a coal powered steam locomotive and two single passenger flat cars.

George loved to tinker. When he needed an alarm clock as a high school student in 1944, he used a timer from some surplus ordinance and other parts to make a clock radio housed in a wooden Kraft Velveeta box.

George was born in Brenham, Texas, on August 28, 1930, the son of an Army Chaplain/Minister. The Dalrymple family eventually settled in Jewell, Kansas, in 1943. On July 4, 1954, he met Margaret Castellon and they were married a year later on July 23, 1955. George was predeceased by his wife of 46 years, Margaret Dalrymple, who died September 1, 2001. He is survived by four children: Donna Dalrymple of Manchester, NH: David Dalrymple and his wife, Jennifer of Bedford, MA; Douglas Dalrymple and his partner, Kim Parker of Nashua, NH; and Debbie Lydiard and her husband, Alan of Durham, NC; five grandchildren, Chris Carpenter and his wife, Heather of Ellicott City, MD; Megan DeShields and her husband, Anthony of Pembroke, Bermuda; Capt. Scott Dalrymple and his wife, Chesapeake of Albuquerque, NM; Amy Dalrymple of Bedford, MA; and Stephen Dalrymple of Brighton, MA. He is survived by four great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild as well as his sister Ruth Dalrymple of Golden, CO and his brother Donald Dalrymple and his wife, LeNell of Trenton, MO.

Burial was on September 5, 2014 at Shawsheen Cemetery in Bedford, MA. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 11:00 am. at the First Church of Christ (Congregational) in Bedford.

Memorial contributions can be made to The Dalrymple Family Fund at Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of Bedford, P.O. Box 585, Bedford, MA 01730 or to the First Church of Christ, Congregational Memorial Fund, 25 Great Rd., Bedford, MA 01730.

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