Obituary for Douglas D. Lloyd
Douglas Davies Lloyd PHD, 88, recently of Tobyhanna PA, died peacefully Wednesday, August 17 at 2 AM following an extended period of progressively diminishing mental and physical capacity.
He leaves behind his children Katherine Eisenhart, Jennifer Biddinger, Jonathan Lloyd, four grandchildren and friends.
The son of William (a Schoolmaster and British Labour Party politician of Welsh heritage), Douglas was born in Harlesden, London, England, where he grew up through the WWII bombings of London and was for a time relocated with his brother (William) Morris Lloyd to stay with loving foster parents Les and Grace Roberts. Douglas joined the British Army and was stationed in Hong Kong as a marksman (who couldn’t hold a rifle) and as a boxer (to avoid getting beat up). He arranged social activities for British troops in Hong Kong, by reaching out to and working with a Hong Kong official. After returning to London he completed his BS in (Electrical) Engineering at the University of London (50), then graduated from The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (51) and earned 5 additional certification from EMI (52).
Soon after, Douglas immigrated to America and was admitted for permanent residence in 1953. Through stubbornness (and by happenstance that the Harvard Dean was friends with above Hong Kong official) Douglas was admitted to Harvard on scholarships and loans and earned his MBA Business Administration from Harvard University (56). There in Cambridge Massachusetts he met and married the mother of his children, Joanna.The family (of four at the time) moved to Bethesda Maryland in 64. There Douglas became the Lunar Photographer (really a fascinating engineering job) for the Lunar Orbiter and Apollo programs. Among his credits include taking the first picture of the earth (as a partially lit sphere) from the moon. From there he pursued his PHD at American University, which he completed in after relocating to New Jersey. Dr. Lloyd was diagnosed with terminal cancer and had one month to live (around 1977). With surgery, radical experimental chemotherapy and a strong will, he survived. He lived almost 40 years longer, most of them good, always enjoying telling his many stories to new people.
A stubborn, quirky and sometimes clueless genius, Douglas Lloyd will be missed.