Bob Vaughan

              January 15, 1966  - May 26, 2019

              Residence:  Santa Rosa California

Bob Vaughan of Palo Alto, CA, also known as "techie" or "longhaired techie." Bob passed away in Santa Rosa, CA on May 26th, 2019 at age 53 after a year-long struggle with cancer.  He was a 1984 Paly graduate. 

Robert Alan Vaughan, born January 15, 1966, passed away on Sunday, May 26, 2019, after a year-long struggle with cancer. Bob, sometimes known online as “techie” or “long-haired-techie,” was much known and beloved by the many people he encountered pursuing his interests in theatrical lighting and sound, audio-visual production, computer networking, telephony, amateur radio, and photography. He was kind and generous to all, accepting of everyone and always willing to help with a technical question or task. He always seemed to have at hand just the tool or piece of equipment needed. In later years he brought many classmates and other friends together by his active participation on Facebook.

Always his own person and technically-inclined, as early as elementary school Bob was known for running the film projectors. In high school, he was one of the most active photographers for the school newspaper and yearbook, as well as working in the school theatre. He first acquired his trademark long hair and beard during this time. His participation in Boy Scouts translated into a lifelong love of hiking and backpacking. He also worked for years at Stanford’s radio station KZSU. Bob was a mentor to many in the South Bay theatre community, having been a fixture as a stage technician, master electrician, lighting designer, and sound designer at Palo Alto High School, West Bay Opera, TheatreWorks, Foothill College, and Opera San Jose, and later as an audio-visual technician at Stanford University and Santa Clara University.

At Foothill College, where he studied computer networking, he was a great resource to other students, setting up their labs, answering their questions and checking their work. An avid “ham,” Bob was a lifelong amateur radio operator, and a member of W6YX, Stanford’s amateur radio club. He was known widely from his participation in radio contests and online discussion groups by his callsigns KC6SXC and AF6RR, which he sported on license plates on his antenna-festooned trucks. (His earlier vehicles - an old Volvo station wagon and a vintage VW bus, were equally distinctive). 

During the Oakland hills fires of 1991 he helped emergency responders with communication needs. Bob was an early adopter of the internet, having helped set up and administer one of the first IRC (Internet Relay Chat) servers at Stanford. Characteristically unique, Bob favored the operating system FreeBSD on his computers for many years.

A lifelong “deadhead,” Bob was an avid fan of the Grateful Dead and a wide range of other music with a positive message and gentle spirit that matched his own. He used to tape Dead concerts (which the band encouraged) to share with other people.

Bob is survived by his mother Barbara, brother Matt, and two nephews.

For more information about Bob's struggle with cancer  http://main.acsevents.org/goto/longhairedtechie

There will be a Celebration of Life for Bob at Santa Clara University (500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara), Learning Commons Viewing and Taping room A, from 6-8pm on Friday, June 7, 2019. (with livestreamed and archived video):
https://www.facebook.com/events/327020704638045/
 

To donate to the Cancer Research Institute which funds immunotherapy research:  https://www.cancerresearch.org/