Charles (Chuck) Brainard Kitchin, 77, who lived in Billerica, Massachusetts, was born in Somerville, MA on April 6, 1947, passed away on March 17, 2025. Chuck left behind his wife of 51 years, Judith Kitchin, two daughters, Laurie Leyne and Sandra Kitchin, one granddaughter, Cally Leyne, his brother Donald Kitchin and numerous cousins. He was predeceased by his parents Carolyn (Nickerson) Kitchin and Charles E. Kitchin.
Youth: He spent his formative years in Lexington, MA and Bustins Island, ME. During his stay at the island, he was quite industrious. Among other things he often talked about the shack he built on the rocky beach, how he helped his Dad build a boat house, being tasked with laying the floorboards. He earned money by collecting garbage scraps from the cottages and hauling it onto his boat and dumping at Bustins Ledge.
During those years, there were visits to his Grandparent’s house. One time his grandfather was in the basement doing experiments and making sparks with capacitors. For Chuck, that ignited a passion for electronics that lasted for the rest of his life. He taught himself electronics through the popular magazines available then. He asked all of his family to give him any broken electronic items they had and with the parts he acquired built himself a TV and eventually built a radio transmitter.
Military: Chuck served four years in the United States Air Force. One of those years was spent at the Air Force Base in Thule, Greenland where his love of working on electronic equipment was much needed. Once he had cleaned and repaired all the equipment in one section of the base, they would send him to another and another. They rewarded his efforts with four stripes and the rank of Staff Sergeant.
Marriage: Shortly after he completed his service with the Air Force, he asked his friends Mike and Joanie if they would get him a date for New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1972. Amazingly, Judy Greenlaw made the same request of the same friends and that is how he met the woman he would marry.
Work Experience: Now, with his marriage plans in place, he went back to the job he had before entering the Air Force. He had worked for WCRB as a radio engineer. Of course, they cannot run the radio without the engineer, so they had to hire someone to cover the job until Chuck returned. When he returned, they offered him some temporary work because they wanted to keep the man who had been working there for four years. He was kind to them and accepted the temporary assignment.
The work was pretty exciting: he was the engineer running the sound system for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and occasionally for Rock groups that appeared at Tanglewood during the summer of 1973. He loved that.
Later, he got a job at Kybe Corporation, in Waltham, MA. He worked there long enough to learn how to be an electronic Technician. There wasn’t much room for growth at Kybe, so he started working at Analog Devices in May of 1976. That is where he flourished, largely because of their culture of letting their employees find their own path.
In his early days at Analog, he started working at home on designing an Audio Phase Detector, which is a device that would detect whether or not the bass, midrange and treble speaker cones were all in phase with each other. He got the idea for this when he saw a roadie checking speakers at a show. He worked for some years at home and during lunch times at Analog and finally succeeded in building one.
An engineer, who was in a lead position at the company, saw him working during his lunch and asked what he was doing. When Chuck explained, he thought that was a great idea and suggested he write an article and send it to some of the industry’s magazines. And that is what started him on his career of writing articles and later guide manuals for the company. Ironically, he later found out that the roadie was not checking on phase, he was just checking that any sound was coming through at all.
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Chuck was a whirlwind, a firestorm, a nuclear event. His booming voice almost preceded his entry to our lab, where his infectious energy would boost all spirits. He was generous with his time and his opinions. His technical abilities were broadbanded and he could be ingenious in rigging up equipment and experiments. He was eminently engageable, on almost all subjects. But at the same time, he was no mindless pollyanna. He fully expected the greedheads would risk the destruction of the world, rather than loosening their grip. Everybody will mourn his passing.
--- Steve
Chuck was a prolific writer and publicist about all things analog (amps of all types, MEMs accelerometers and gyroscopes, radios, etc.). His legendary db’s and Christmas parties were events not to be missed. I remember Chuck’s generosity, the way he made new engineers feel welcome, and his joyful nerdom (nerdiness maybe).
--- JoAnn
What I cherish most about Chuck was the way in which he created community for other guys and showered us all with his friendship. This may not sound extraordinary, but, in my experience, it’s typically not a guy, especially one who is a husband, who organizes parties and brings a gang together. Chuck was the rare man who, year in and year out, even through all his ups and downs, did that for all of us.
If it were not for him, would we have had a tradition of Christmas parties and, corny as they were, swamp dBs? How many of us could ever truly explain to family and friends what a dB was, and the quirky rituals that were essential parts? Whenever you did try, they’d roll their eyes in disBelief at our nerdiness. “Really, you guys use an engineering term for relative intensity as an acronym for ‘despicable Barbecue’? Are you guys sane?” And then we’d answer by saying that we couldn’t wait till the next time he’d invite us all over, to that cozy home in the woods, for more descents into his poster- and music-filled basement, for “trips” back into the 60s? For more sausage and Chabliss? (spelled the way he intentionally pronounced it).
For me, there are few people, and no other man, who created community the way that Chuck did. Unassuming, without pretense, full of acceptance. Joyous, chuckling, and with a mischievous sparkle in his eye, that was Chuck.
--- Jay
Chuck was a man of many passions, he was a kind and generous person, more than willing to help anyone in need.
While in the Air Force, Chuck was stationed in Thule, Greenland where he ran the radio station and played his favorite music to entertain the troops during those long dark and cold winters.
After being discharged from the Air Force, he got a job as a radio engineer at the classical music station WCRB while also attending Wentworth Institute. He was the recording engineer for live broadcasts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood.
Upon completion of his Associates Degree, he began work at Analog Devices as a technician in the design department.
His passion for cheap wines led him to start wine tastings at his house with friends and colleagues followed by sharing the results in a very colorful weekly newsletter. This may have been the spark that ignited his long writing career.
Chuck took a position as a technical writer at analog devices where he published countless articles and also wrote 3 books that have been translated into many languages.
As his career at Analog began to wind down, he volunteered as a guest instructor at the Wilmington Middle School where he taught science with a very hands on and engaging style. He held an annual all day technology fair inviting work colleagues to share their expertise in a wide area of technology and STEM inspiring hundreds of students over the years.
He had a love for music and had a vast collection of obscure music that no one else has, and was more than willing to share it with anyone willing to listen.
He was an amateur astronomer who traveled all over New England seeking locations with the least amount of light pollution. He built 3 big telescopes and was more than willing to share his love for astronomy with anyone willing to star gaze on those dark and cold winter evenings.
Chuck was a HAM and a Short Wave radio enthusiast. He built his own radios and even designed a circuit to improve the sensitivity of short wave radio. His design has been published online and in radio magazines.
Chuck was an artist. He loved painting everything from landscapes to still objects. Many of his oil paintings were very colorful interpretations of Van Gogh and Picasso. What better place for inspiration than Bustins, where he had spent all of his summers from his childhood. His vividly colorful paintings were a reflection of how he viewed the world.
In fact, it seems that all of Chuck’s passions came together when he was at Bustins. The culmination of art, nature, astronomy, short wave radio, music and wine. He always seemed happiest when having a Chablis and looking out to sea.
--- Tony
Life Lessons I Learned from Chuck
1. If you are having fun then people will want to hang out with you
The Wine Tastings and Christmas Parties and Swamp dB's are legendary. And the reason is it was always fun! The music from the Sixties always got people in a good mood. Chuck recorded many, many, many tapes of Sixties music during his time at the North Pole (see below). The wine tasting was fun to debate the nuances of cheap swill as the sensibilities of the participants became gradually more and more impaired. And, Chuck had a guaranteed method to judge the best wine: it was the bottle that was empty first!
2. Include everyone
The Christmas Parties were a cross section of humanity. Chuck invited everyone! And they all came. It is easy to get trapped in a small clique of friends and not see other walks of life. Chuck didn't care: everyone was welcome. He wanted to share! And one reason is he and Judy met at a New Year's Eve party and he said that was the best thing that ever happened to him. And, so now, he wanted other people to have the same opportunity. So he invited them all!
3. Give back
Chuck was dismayed that there was very little science taught in the local middle school. So he volunteered to teach it himself. The support of Analog Devices was most helpful to give him the time needed to teach. And, his reputation for being undaunted in working toward goals emboldened ADI to support him. An outgrowth of this teaching activity was the annual Science Fair. Chuck recruited many people to go into the school for a whole day to put on demonstrations for the kids. And, of course, all the nerdy engineers loved showing off their toys. And, of course, all the kids loved seeing things flash and pop and spin and bang. And, of course, Chuck was in the background ensuring it all went well.
4. Keep your eye on the doughnut and not the hole
Analog Devices had a generous policy of paying authors of articles published in the trade press. Such a deal! Chuck wrote many application note articles and, while these were fun little circuits, he never lost sight of the reason to do this: money. Chuck got so good at writing that eventually he changed jobs and left engineering tech and went into marketing where his full time job was writing app notes. Sadly, when that was his actual job, then the extra payment was no longer given. There was much grumbling about that. But developing this talent for writing had further benefit. Chuck developed a simple regenerative short wave radio receiver and published an article about it. It went viral! Many people copied it and modified it and all gave credit to Chuck! There are even scores of YouTube videos about it. And it all started from writing app notes for extra cash!
5. There is always a good enough solution
I learned this from Chuck about a decade before I even met him. In the Sixties a real danger was being drafted and being sent to Vietnam. Chuck figured out that this can be avoided by volunteering to go to Thule Air Force Base in northern Greenland. A year at the North Pole is so dark and dismal and grim that anyone who wanted to go was accepted. I had also discovered this ploy when I was in high school, although I did not have to actually go to Thule. Chuck and I bonded over both of us discovering a good enough solution to being drafted. --- Larry
A Celebration of Life will be held at 10am, April 12, 2025 Community Congregational Church, 803 Boston Road, Billerica, MA, to be followed by a luncheon at Billerica Country Club, 51 Baldwin Road, Billerica MA 01821.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Camp Joslin at www.barton.org or send a check to the Barton Center and mark the check "for Camp Joslin". The Barton Center for Diabetes Education, Inc. 30 Ennis Road, P.O. Box 356, North Oxford, MA 01537-0356
Previous Events
Celebration of Life
12
Apr
803 Boston Rd.
Billerica , MA 01821
