Frederick (Fred) Richard Stocker, 76, passed away May 11, 2015, peacefully at his home in State College, Pa., surrounded by his family.
Born Jan. 22, 1939, in Camden, N.J., Fred was the youngest son of the late Aimee and Edward Stocker. He graduated from Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pa., and received his B.S. in mathematics from Moravian College and M.S. from Purdue University, and completed substantial progress towards his Ph.D. in computer science from Penn State.
Fred married his beloved Sandra Pfeiffer, who survives, on Jan. 28, 1961. They have lived in State College since 1967. Also surviving are his favorite daughter, Laura, and her husband, Michael Waldhier; his brother, David Stocker, of Floral City, Fla.; his many nieces and nephews; and his cat, Maggie. Preceding him in death was his brother, Paul Stocker, of Bethlehem and New York City.
Fred was a man of many interests and his career took him all over the U.S. He taught mathematics at Susquehanna University, followed by computer graphics at Penn State in 1970. At Penn State, he helped to develop the Interactive Graphics and Human System Interface Laboratory, pioneering work in the areas of multimedia visualizations, human-system interfacing and real-time graphics supporting the sciences and the arts, interests that he would carry forward through his whole career.
As a software engineer and technology-transfer consultant, he worked all over the country for such organizations as NASA, The Singer Co., the City of New York, and General Electric Consulting Services. His work included development of a computer support environment prototype for the NASA Space Station in the mid-1980s. He also was a photographer and artist.
He loved his family, his friends, bad puns, grand ideas, good conversation, movies, tv shows, computer games, music, gardening, photography, books, comics, and cats and dogs. He was a visionary, an inventor and a philosopher, and the best husband and father in the world.
Fred’s family would like to thank Centre Crossings Hospice for the wonderful care he received during his last weeks.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to Centre County PAWS or the State College Food Bank. A guest book also is available at heintzelmanfuneralhome.com. A gathering of friends and family to celebrate Fred's life is planned within the next few weeks. Please contact lwaldhier@gmail.com if you would like to receive more information.
