After a courageous two year battle against cancer, Zach Upton, age 37, formerly of Monroe, CT, peacefully succumbed on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 surrounded by his immediate family in hospice care in Rockville, MD. He leaves behind his loving and wonderfully strong wife, Prudence, and his precious daughters, Kate (5) and Zoe (3); his parents, Wayne and Barb Upton of Monroe, and  siblings, Elizabeth, also of Monroe, and Zebediah and his fiance Mary Ann Holiday, both of Watertown, MA. He is also survived by his maternal grandparents, Jim and Peggy Lawler of Paxton, NE, paternal grandmother, Zellah Upton of Littleton, CO, numerous aunts, uncles and cousins and two beloved nephews. Zach held a Bachelor's degree in music and acoustic engineering from the Hartt School/University of Hartford as well as a Master's of Acoustics from Penn State University. Zach joined the BBN Technologies (a division of Raytheon) in 1999 as a staff scientist.  He blossomed within BBN's culture and embarked upon a decade long regimen of volunteerism and self-study; of seeking mentorship, and of taking on and succeeding at positions of technical, programmatic, and business development leadership.  He reveled in team building to solve hard problems. He loved planning and then getting dirty on field tests.  He excelled at every level and was invited to join the SDP as a lead scientist in 2009, a meteoric rise by any standard. His satisfied customers have included the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, the Department of Energy, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Verizon, DARPA, ONI. Zach served as past president of the Washington DC Chapter of the Acoustical Society of America, was an IEEE senior member, and a patent holder. A Memorial Mass will be held on Sunday, May 15, 2011, at 7:00 pm, St. Stephen Church, 6948 Main Street, Trumbull, CT. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestras, PO Box 645, Fairfield, CT 06824 or http://pages.teamintraining.org/rm/chicago11/juptonwhy9
or http://www.mypelotonia.org/riders_profile.jsp?MemberID=72405,
or Casey House Hospice, 6001 Muncaster Mill Road, Rockville, MD 20855 or CaringBridge.org To send online condolences please visit www.redgatehennessy.com