By Ken Lum
It is with heavy heart that I announce that long-time SMCAS member, Bob Fies, passed away in December 2023. I was informed about this by his niece, Ms. Barbara Brady. He was 84 years old.
Bob was best known by the local amateur astronomical community as a kind and generous person who provided aluminizing services for telescope makers, particularly those who made their telescope mirrors with John Dobson’s San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers and the Telescope Makers Workshop at the Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland.
Bob was born in Dallas, Texas, and moved to San Carlos, California with his family while a teenager. He attended Carlmont High School, Belmont, and attended some college afterward but did not finish a degree.
He worked as an aircraft mechanic for 25 years for Pan-American Airways and retired when Pan-Am went out of business. He subsequently worked at Orchard Supply Hardware and founded his astronomical mirror aluminizing business in his garage in San Carlos serving customers from all over the country. His coatings were noted for their excellent uniformity and reflectivity. He continued this effort all the way until last fall when he shipped his last mirror.
I first met Bob when I noticed his ad for mirror aluminizing services in Sky and Telescope Magazine and saw that his address was in the same town I lived in. And so, I went to his home to introduce myself and he gave me a tour of his aluminizing setup, which he had built himself. Bob was a very tall fellow with a quiet, gentle demeanor making him into a kind of gentle giant. I saw him frequently at SMCAS Star Parties with his homemade Dobsonian telescopes. He also volunteered as a laser spotter at Lick Observatory to make sure the observatory’s adaptive optics laser did not accidentally point at over-flying aircraft.
He is predeceased by his parents, John and Gladys (nee Bowman) Fies, and his brother, William John Fies, Jr. He never married and is survived by his nephews and nieces. He was interred at Sky Lawn Memorial Park in a private family ceremony. Memorial gifts may be made to Camp Okizu (https://okizu.org), an organization devoted to assisting families of children affected by childhood cancers. The amateur astronomical community will miss him greatly.