Sad news about a dear friend and fellow woodcarver – he will be missed.Dilek Barlas, a GNHW member who was very active in the Period Furniture sub-group, died Christmas Eve as a result of a heart attack. He was 65.
Dilek spent his work-days as an engineer and semiconductor entrepreneur, but his passion off hours was woodworking. He did a program at North Bennett St. School, and took multiple courses with Phil Lowe, Al Breed and Mary May. He was particularly interested in carving.
His home was full of beautiful, hand-made items including a Queen-Anne dining set with chairs, period sideboards, a reproduction Townsend Document Chest made in conjunction with the Period Furniture Group’s program at Al Breed’s shop, and many other items.
Guild members will remember him as someone who was always friendly and always willing to share his ample woodworking expertise. Others will remember the difficulty they had mastering the pronunciation of his name.
Dilek was a native of Istanbul, Turkey. He came to the U.S. to attend Bates College. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1973. In 1977, he received a PhD in Physics from Brandeis University.
A naturalized U.S. citizen, Dilek worked as a physicist at Raytheon Research Division and MIT Lincoln Laboratory and held a number of top engineering positions with Adams-Russell, M/A-Com, ST Microsonics, and TriQuint Semiconductor, where he organized and headed the Boston Design Center.
Then he served as an international consultant and held positions as vice-president and chief technology officer with a variety of start-up companies. Most recently, he was VP of Engineering at Eta Devices, Cambridge.
He is survived by his son, Nuri, who teaches and coaches in Bedford, MA. His mother, Melahat, and sister, Mine, and her family in Istanbul, Turkey.
Funeral arrangements are pending, information will be available at the Bedford Funeral Home’s website: http://www.bedfordfuneralhome.com/fh/home/home.cfm?&fh_id=10250.
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