In Memoriam

With profound gratitude and a deep sense of our good fortune for having known him, we mark the one year passing of our charming and irreplaceable friend and colleague, Ernest Littauer.

Born in Mill Hill, North London, in 1936, Ernest’s parents, Heinz L. Littauer and Ruth Felsenstein Littauer, from prominent families in Leipzig, Germany, relocated to England with Ernest’s 3 year old sister Eva, as Hitler and the Nazis rose to power. In London during the Blitz Ernest slept in a metal-topped reenforced cage called a Morrison Shelter.

When a German bomb hit their street it collapsed a corner of their house. Like other children during the war, Ernest became a junior airplane spotter, prompting a life-long fascination with airplanes, and a deep-held conviction that a strong defense was needed to keep dictators at bay, all of which eventually led to a 33-year career in aerospace with Lockheed Missiles and Space.

Ernest attended Haberdasher’s Aske Boys School, and University of London-Battersea College of Technology, earning a BSc in Metallurgy in 1961. Despite an offer from Cambridge University, he chose to remain at Battersea and earned a PhD in Electro-Metallurgy in 1961. During his student days he often had to present his research findings in front of large assemblies of fellow students and faculty, honing his public speaking skills which served him well later in his career. Always well-dressed and with a dapper sense of style, Ernest drove a Jaguar convertible around London, became president of the University of London Union and helped plan student dance hops and special events, often attended by the Queen Mother and, on one memorable occasion, her danced with her. Ernest spent his spare time going to the symphony and concerts, along with all-night Dixieland jazz clubs. On the recommendation of his dissertation advisor, Lockheed Missiles and Space hired Ernest and in 1963 he moved to southern California, acquired a small house in the Hollywood Hills, the first in his series of Corvette convertibles, and commuted to Lockheed’s Jet Propulsion facility in Ontario.

In 1969 Ernest married Deveda McDonough, a Stanford graduate working on her teaching credential at UCLA; in 1973 they moved to the Bay Area and built their home in Los Altos Hills. Deveda earned a Master’s degree in Psychology from San Jose State University and embarked on a career in school counseling at Davis Middle School in San Jose while Ernest was now managing the Chemistry Department at Lockheed’s Palo Alto Research Labs, where he led pioneering research on the lithium battery for which he was awarded the first of the 20 patents he eventually had to his name.

In 1980 Ernest became Director of the Material Sciences at the Labs, where projects included developing the space shuttle’s heat shield tiles; the first use of lithium as an anode in batteries; a real-time x-ray inspection system for large rocket motors, and designing a strategy for astronauts in space to correct the flawed mirror on the Hubble Space Telescope, enabling it to go on to capture high-resolution and stunning images of distant nebulae and a cosmic “nursery” where stars are born.

In 1989 Ernest was selected Vice President and General Manager of Lockheed’s 1500-person R&D Division. There he organized the New Business Acquisition and Proposal Center that became the company model for pursuing and winning R&D contracts.

In retirement he consulted with MIT and the University of Surrey, helping their materials organizations establish proposal centers as well. Colleagues at Lockheed and beyond remember him as a mentor, a successful scientist, a highly effective communicator and technology manager all while retaining the manners of his sophisticated British heritage and self-confidence.

By the time Ernest retired in 1996, his long career had overlapped with Silicon Valley’s emergence as a global center of tech innovation. Yet despite the rise of venture capital and proliferation of startups, Ernest chose to spend his entire career at Lockheed, echoing the sentiment that led him decades earlier to remain at Battersea for his PhD: “I liked the faculty, they liked me, and because they supported me I was able to graduate with honors …and I’m not moving!”

In retirement Ernest pursued his multiple other interests. He and Deveda added a conservatory to their home where Ernest grew orchids and bromeliads. Guests invited for a‘grand tour’ of the greenhouses, had Ernest giving them briefings on rare and unusual specimens then in bloom. On the engineering side, he gave full rein to his passion for sports cars, restoring his 1969 burgundy Corvette to pristine factory condition, entering multiple shows and concours, winning accolades and awards, all culminating in the Bloomington Gold in Chicago, 2012.

He indulged his lifelong love of music attending concerts with Deveda, both classical and jazz. In 1998 he joined the Board of Music at Kohl Mansion, the prestigious concert series in Burlingame, CA and during his more than two decades on the MAKM Board, served as President, Chairman and Chairman Emeritus, taking a leadership role to raise funds to bring world-class chamber music ensembles to perform in Kohl Mansion’s elegant wood-paneled hall, as well as out in the community for local schools and libraries.

Friends and family remember with fondness the many gatherings at the Littauers’ in Los Altos Hills, when we gave a“Mazel Tov!” as Ernest popped the cork and poured champagne into crystal flutes, as conversation flowed in the elegance of their home.

Supporters of local artists, their home became a modern gallery of light, paintings and sculptures, artfully paired with orchids. Some of these occasions were costumed affairs, others were high teas or full dinner spreads, served on the family porcelain, crystal and silver passed down from Ernest’s parents. With Deveda drawing everyone in with her warmth and cheer, Ernest would hold forth with his unique turns of phrase in his posh British accent, and with knowing twinkle in his eye, leave us all charmed and elevated to a higher plane.

Ernest and Deveda travelled widely and took a special interest re-connecting with Ernest’s far-flung family members, including an epic reunion in 2000 when some 600 members of his mother’s branch of the family, the Felsensteins, gathered in Jerusalem.

Another important re-connect occurred with Ernest’s old College, now the University of Surrey, reigniting a treasured relationship. Deveda, as an educator and longtime student counselor saw the role Surrey had played in Ernest’s path to becoming a scientist and a gentleman, and how that education opened the doors to greater opportunities.

Together Ernest and Deveda visited Surrey multiple times, and in 2003 they began providing scholarships and awards to deserving students. In February of this year a plaque was unveiled in the University’s student engineering lab reading, in part, “In Honour of Ernest and Deveda Littauer… Their legacy continues to shape the future of metallurgy and materials science at Surrey, ensuring aspiring engineers and scientists have the opportunities to succeed… This plaque stands in recognition of their extraordinary kindness, and lasting impact, which will continue to inspire future generations.”

Ernest was predeceased by Deveda, who died unexpectedly in 2018 after their nearly fifty-year marriage. Ernest is survived by niece Este Dinur of Madison, WI; nephew Ilan Dinur of Yessod Hamalla, Israel; first cousin Frank Felsenstein of Chicago, IL; brother-in-law Joel McDonough of Eureka, CA; goddaughter Jackie Kircher of Lafayette, CA; and a large number of appreciative friends and colleagues in the Bay Area, elsewhere in California, across the U.S., and around the world. So to our erudite, sophisticated, and one of a kind-of-a-kind Ernest: we miss you Old Chap!

The Littauer Fund honors the memory of Ernest &Deveda Littauer by supporting Littauer Scholars at the University of Surrey https://www.surrey.ac.uk/alumni/giving/littauer-fund.