August 19, 2000: Stereo pioneer Seton Rochwite dies at age 95
 

"Seton Rochwite, of Loveland, CO, a retired consulting product engineer, died
7/18/00.  He was 95.

He was born November 22, 1904 in Princeton, Wisconsin.  After the family moved
to Hartford, Wisconsin he attended Hartford High School.  After his graduation
in 1924 he went on to Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduating
in 1929 with a degree of Electrical Engineer.  The first 14 years of his career
were as a lighting engineer with The Milwaukee Electric Co.  In 1943 he designed
a stereoscopic camera utilizing the newly announced Kodachrome Color film.  He
named it the Stereo Realist and it caused a worldwide revival of interest in
stereo photography and is still the standard by which others are judged.  Two
years of his career were spent as a staff member at the Los Alamos Scientific
Laboratory.  Leaving there in 1952, he began a career as a consulting product
engineer in both the photo and medical instruments fields.  In 1977 he and his
wife Isabelle left California where they had lived for 14 years and moved back
to Loveland to spend their retirement years.  She preceded him in death in 1995
shortly after they had celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary and just 2 days
before her 91st birthday.

For many years he was active in photo exhibitions worldwide receiving many
medals and honors.  He had achieved the rating of Master 1 for having had over
755 acceptances with over 171 different pictures.  In 1979 The Photographic
Society of America presented him with it's highest honor, The Progress Medal,
for his achievements in photographic equipment design.

He was an honorary member of three camera clubs - The Photo Pictorialissts of
Milwaukee, The Oakland Camera Club and the Rocky Mountain Camera Club.  He was
also a member of Tau Beta Pi, national engineering honor fraternity.

He is survived by two daughters - Sue Richardson of Casper, Wyoming and Sally
Kustka of Bowie, Maryland, six grandchildren and three great grandchildren"
 

Orbituary provided by Harold Baize