Harold W. Lockhart, 89, of South Bristol, died peacefully at Miles Memorial Hospital on June 9. His children were with him.
Hal was born June 11, 1919, in Newark, N.J. He attended Caldwell public schools and Montclair Academy, and received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1937. He graduated in February 1941 and received his commission as an officer in the U.S. Navy. He served throughout WWII in the Pacific theater, and was assigned to the U.S.S. Saratoga (CV3) until she was sunk at the Bikini bomb tests. He attended Naval Postgraduate School in engineering in 1944-1945. In 1948 he resigned from active duty as a Lieutenant Commander and served in the Naval Reserve thereafter, retiring with the rank of Captain in 1960.
Hal married a friend from childhood, Holly Mann, in 1947. He earned an L.L.B. from Harvard Law School, having attended on the GI bill, and returned to New Jersey to take a position as a patent attorney with Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill in 1952. He wrote transistor-related patent applications, and was an expert in semiconductor technology. The family moved to Bernardsville, N.J. in 1953. Hal retired from Bell Laboratories in 1982 and moved with Holly to South Bristol to a home they built on property used as a summer residence by Holly’s family.
Hal was an ordained elder of the Basking Ridge (N.J.) Presbyterian Church, as well as serving the church in other ways such as teaching church school. After moving to Maine, Hal and Holly were charter members of the Mid Coast Presbyterian Church in Topsham and both served this church in various capacities. Among his many volunteer activities were service on the Bernardsville School Board, both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, restoration of the Hidden Valley Girl Scout Camp in Equinunk, Penn., hotline telephone counseling in Bernardsville, N.J., participation in the Yokefellow Ministry at the Maine State Prison, as well as supporting all of the activities of his wife and children. He enjoyed sailing and boating and until recently owned a 22′ Sailstar Seasprite daysailer and a 26′ motor launch built by Farrin Boat Shop.
The first priority of Hal’s life and the source of his joy were the love and support of his family. He deeply loved his wife and coped with great difficulty with her loss. He was a dutiful son to his parents and mother-in-law, and an enthusiastic father to all four of his children. He gave his children what children need most from parents, his time and attention. No task was too small to merit his love and care. His second love was the Navy, and even after over 30 years of work for Bell Labs, he never stopped talking about the time he spent serving his country.
He was predeceased by his wife Holly, and survived by his sons, Harold William, Jr. and wife Leslie and their children, Lily and Julia of Newton, Mass., and Samuel Kerr and wife Barbara and their children, Robert and Samantha of Teaneck, N.J.; daughters, Page Lockhart and husband Don Loprieno of Bristol and Tamy Slattery and husband Mike Slattery of Natick, Mass.
Memorial service 11 a.m., Aug. 22 at Mid Coast Presbyterian Church. Interment 10:30 a.m. at the MCPC columbarium.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to CHIP, P.O. Box 6, New Harbor, ME 04554; the Carpenters’ Boat Shop, 440 Old County Rd., Pemaquid, ME 04558; or the building fund of Mid Coast Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 211, Topsham, ME 04086.
