Robert R. Ferber was born in New Eagle, Pennsylvania, to Rudolf F. Ferber and Elizabeth Robertson on June 11, 1935, and passed away on Jan. 31, 2020, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. At his side were his beloved wife, Eileen and his son Robert Jr. and daughter Lynne Case, both graduates of the La Cañada Unified School District. Bob is also survived by son-in-law Stan Case, daughter-in-law Linda Maepa and three grandchildren: Jeremy and Stephanie Case of Twin Falls, Idaho, and Bobby Ferber of Woodside, California.
He graduated from Carrick High School in Pittsburgh in 1953 after winning a science scholarship from Buhl Planetarium in Pittsburgh. While earning his B.S. in electrical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, he worked as the audio engineer for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates, Hornets (now Penguins) and Pittsburgh Symphony. He was involved in getting the first educational television station on the air, WQED in Pittsburgh. He was also one of the people responsible for getting Fred Rogers’ “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” on the air. Fred used Bob’s invention, Tele-Cam, on his show to do live TV and record film at the same time. Tele-Cam was marketed by MGM in the United States and the Rank Organization in Europe. Bob was a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, a registered professional engineer, and life member of IEEE and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Bob attended Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, earning his M.S. in electrical engineering in 1966, then continued for his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Carnegie-Mellon in 1968. During graduate school he was a research engineer at Westinghouse Research Lab in Pittsburgh. He held memberships in Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, Society of Sigma Xi, Sigma Tau and Eta Kappa Nu.
