Rice, Clare I. (C.I.)

Clare I. (C.I.) Rice passed peacefully from this life from natural causes on Nov. 20, 2013, at his home in Austin, Texas, shortly after celebrating his 95th birthday.

He was born Clarence Irwin Rice in Rice Lake, Wis., on Nov. 3, 1918, to Kristian Rice and Ingeborg Haugstvedt Rice (formerly Rise in their native Norway).

Clare is survived by his sister, Eleanor Rice Revne of Eau Claire, Wis.; his daughters, Karen Bateman Rice of Bellingham, Wash., and Carol Rice Brannon and her husband, Kevin, of Austin; his granddaughter, Katharine Larson Popejoy of Charlotte, N.C.; his great-grandson, Samuel Glen Popejoy of Olympia, Wash.; and his nieces, Jeanne Revne Hoilien, Ann Revne Rupnow and Sandi Revne Wiebe, all of the Eau Claire, Wis., area. He also has many grandnieces and grandnephews in the same area.

Mr. Rice was predeceased in 1972 by his wife, Virginia Bateman, mother of his children, and in 2008, by his son, David Alan Rice of Iowa.

His second wife, Elaine Spurrier Lewis, died in 1995.

Clare graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1943, nearing the end of World War II. He then joined the Navy with an officer's commission, stationed in Maine and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working on the early development of radar. When the war ended, Clare joined the Naval Reserve, in which he served for 20 years, retiring as a lieutenant commander.

After the war, Clare began his career in the field he loved. For nearly 40 years he played an important role in the development of the industry of avionics - electronic communications systems for aircraft of all types, including those flying into space. After a brief stint at Honeywell, he began working for Northwest Airlines in St. Paul. At the same time he accomplished a bachelor's degree in law at St. Paul College of Law. He also received his pilot's license for small planes during this period. He went on to continue his avionics career at Aeronautical Engineering Inc., in Washington, D.C.; then as general manager of the Aviation Electronics Division of Bendix Radio in Towson, Md.; and in 1962, became president of the Oster Avionics Division of Sunbeam, first in Racine, Wis., then moving the plant to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

After a brief time fundraising for Nova University in Fort Lauderdale, Clare joined Collins Radio in 1968, which had plants in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Dallas, Texas. After North American Rockwell took over Collins, Clare headed up the Avionics and Missiles Group of Rockwell, retiring in 1983, with the title of vice president of World Marketing for Rockwell International. His career allowed him to travel widely around the world, and gave him the rare pleasure of attending many Paris Air Shows and numerous launches in the United States space program, meeting many astronauts and famous pilots.

Clare belonged to many professional organizations, some of which he served in official capacity, including the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee, Sales and Marketing Executives of Baltimore, Conquistadores del Cielo, Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics.

He received an honorary doctorate in engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 1979, and was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame. He received many other industry awards. He also served on the commission responsible for planning and building a new airport in Cedar Rapids, and attempted to persuade the City of San Diego to move its airport north to Miramar in San Diego County.

Clare moved to San Diego, Calif., in 1986, leaving a home near Sarasota, Fla., in favor of the San Diego climate and naval presence. He continued to travel and play tennis, and continued to be involved in both the University of Wisconsin Alumni Association, of which he was a past president, and the UW Bascom Hill Society, as well as serving on the Bernardo Heights Community Association in Rancho Bernardo, the site of the home he had built there.

In his later years he was able to continue to enjoy some of the closest friendships of his life through his association with the University of Wisconsin and his professional relationships in southern California. He moved to Austin to be near his daughter, Carol, in the fall of 2011, living in the Atria (formerly Village) at the Arboretum.

Clare's family is enormously grateful to Marilyn Murray of Austin for her kind and competent care of Mr. Rice for his last two years of life. We could not have asked for more. We are also very appreciative to Odyssey Hospice for their help in all areas of the end of his life.

A memorial service for Clare will be held at Bethesda Lutheran Church in Eau Claire, Wis., on Dec. 6 at 1 p.m. Interment at Calvary Cemetery Chapel Columbarium will follow.