Rene Ludwig Guerster

While it's no surprise his preference was that no memorial service be held, we know his family and friends will each take their own time to reflect on his positive impact on their lives. The immediate family is planning a walk on the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk this summer and will overindulge in fudge and saltwater taffy in his honor.

A loving and supportive husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, Rene was always the cheerleader for everyone's success. Whether it was a FaceTime, email, text or impromptu phone call, he made sure to stay connected with the whole family’s activities and provide encouraging, bold and entertaining commentary in any situation.

Born in Basel, Switzerland in 1938, Rene came at a young age as an immigrant to the United States with his parents, escaping Nazi occupied Europe. His family moved frequently, his father teaching at various US universities and his mother continuing her opera career with occasional performances. While attending a dozen different primary and secondary schools, Rene was forever the new kid in his early school years. It was finally in 9thgrade that he found his home at The Westtown School, a Quaker boarding school in Pennsylvania, where he graduated high school and later became an avid supporter, funding faculty sabbaticals, naming his first dorm and establishing an endowment for immigrant students with similar situations to his own.

Post Westtown, Rene returned to Europe to pursue a mechanical engineering degree at Imperial College in London. It was there he met his lifelong partner, Miriam. He graduated in 1960 and they married and moved to Vineland, NJ, starting their family and Rene’s career at Armstrong Cork in Millville, NJ.

After their daughter Cathy and son Jon came along, he and Miriam moved to the Philadelphia suburbs, where Rene entered the world of space technology, first joining General Electric's Space Systems division and later moving to The Ametek Corporation, another space systems supplier. He completed his Master's in Engineering, specializing in celestial mechanics, from the University of Pennsylvania and was granted the first of eleven patents he would receive through his career.

In 1970, Rene joined the West Company, a publicly traded pharmaceutical packaging company, as Director of Engineering. Over the next fifteen years, he moved up through senior management and was named CEO in 1985. During his time with West, he also completed his third degree, an MBA from Temple University.

A lifelong learner, in his seventies Rene decided to pursue a Masters in Cognitive Science at the University of Central Florida (UCF), graduating at 75 years old. At UCF, he engineered a safer car steering system design, presenting his research at the annual human factors conference in 2013, with his final patent being issued in 2016. A fan of jazz music, Rene also fell in love with UCF’s jazz program, taking additional classes in music and regularly attending their on-campus jazz concerts.

As a husband and parent, he found hobbies and sports that everyone could enjoy. He captained annual family charter sail and power boat trips in the Chesapeake Bay and the Virgin Islands for many years. Invariably there would be some moments of excitement on those trips, as something would go wrong, but with Rene at the helm it would always work out. As a car enthusiast, he first restored older Porsches, then a 1918 Model T, and finally a 1944 Willy's Jeep. He also loved driving the 1984 Porsche he and Miriam picked up in Germany and brought back to the US. He did have issues with speeding, and made court appearances, visited police stations or had his driver's license revoked in several states. In later years, he took up woodworking, making exquisitely crafted and engraved jewelry boxes for each family member, and a rocking horse for his great-granddaughter.

At his passing, Rene is survived by Miriam Guerster, 87, his wife of sixty-two years. His daughter Cathy and son-in-law Sims live in Maitland, FL, their older son Colin, wife Mary Catherine and great-granddaughter Mary Sims live in Homewood, AL and their younger son Chris and wife Kadie live in Atlanta, GA. His son Jon and wife Kim live in Beverly, MA, with college aged son Bey and daughters Mason and Brooke. In addition to Cath and Jon's families, Rene is survived by his sister-in-law Margaret Harthen, of Chingford, London.

For those who wish to honor his memory, donations in his name can be made to The Westtown School’s annual fund. For the scotch drinkers, we suggest a toast to his memory with a single malt and just a few rocks, Macallan being a particularly appropriate choice.