Born: October 2, 1918, in Brooklyn, NY, son of Christian and Caroline Roeder Sporck.
Died: December 4, 2006, in Los Gatos, CA
Married: Paula Merrix
Children: Frederick R. Sporck, David C. Sporck, A. Nicholas Sporck
Christian R. Sporck joined National Semiconductor Corp. in 1971, where he managed the development of two molding compounds which have become the industry standards in semiconductor packaging.
Decernber 28, 2006
Christian R. Sporck
SARANAC LAKE Christian R. Sporck, formerly of Saranac Lake, died Thursday, Dec. 4 2006 at 88 years in Los Gatos, Calif.
Born October 2, 1918 in the German immigrant community of Brooklyn he was the son of Christian and Caroline Roeder Sporck.
Within a couple of years his young father was diagnosed with tuberculosis and the family moved to Saranac Lake, already known for its healing air and the Trudeau Sanatorium. His childhood was spent in the mountains and lakes of the Adirondacks where he learned to appreciate fishing and exploring the woods. Two attacks of rheumatic fever followed by months of recuperation interrupted his school years, yet allowed him to read widely and develop early his love of learning. He graduated from Saranac Lake High School in 1938, valedictorian of his class.
Cornell University followed with a BA degree in I942 in Chemistry and membership in two honor societies — Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. As a graduate student at Cornell during the war years, he taught chemistry to Navy V-12 students, while working on his doctorate in physical chemistry, which he completed in 1946. He pursued further post doctoral research at Harvard Medical School in blood protein chemistry and later in the biology department at M.I.T. While living in Boston he met his future wife, Paula Merrix and they were married in July, 1949.
He spent 1950 to 1956 doing research in surface chemistry in the new detergent industry at Lever Bros, Co. in Edgewater, NJ. From 1956 to 1970 he was part of the General Electric Co. Silicone Products Department, Waterford, investigating the properties and uses of silicones in rubbers, lubricants, and adhesives.
In 1971, he joined National Semiconductor Corp. in Santa Clara, Calif. He worked in the integrated circuit packaging group at National, where he managed a team working on molding compounds for semiconductors, The results of this work were the development of two molding compounds which have become the industry standards in semiconductor packaging. He retired from National in 1986.
He was a member of several professional societies contributed to a number of professional journals and was the holder of fourteen U.S. patents.
During his time on the east coast, he was a frequent visitor to Saranac Lake and the Adirondacks. His parents owned the Adirondack Motel in Saranac Lake in the 1960's and he later owned a camp on Kiwassa Lake where he and his family could frequently be found in the summer. Saranac Lake was always a special place for him.
During, his years in the semiconductor industry in California he traveled widely — in Asia, on business and in Europe on business and pleasure.
His last trip to Italy in 1996 fulfilled his lifelong dream of visiting the places associated with the Latin poets and Dante. Earlier, his sister and he had researched family : genealogy which, resulted in two interesting trips to Germany, meeting newly discovered relatives.
In his retirement years he wrote, short stories and poetry finally indulging his lifelong passions for literature and music. In addition, he took courses, at local colleges in Italian, German, poetry, and writing. Declining health precluded further travel.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years; three sons: Frederick R, of Los Gatos, Calif., David C. of. Rocklin, Calif; and A: Nicholas, of Saratoga, Calif.; his brother Charles E. Sporck of Kailua, Hawai; his sister, Ruth S. Levy of Binghamton; and four nephews, one niece, four grandchildren and many grand nephews and nieces.
He was predeceased by his parents in the 1980s.
A memorial service will be held July 21, 2007 in Saranac Lake.
