Francis J. Scheid

Francis J. Scheid, 90, retired mathematics professor, and golf, sailing and birding enthusiast, died peacefully on Feb. 24, 2011 at The Huntington in Nashua, his residence for the past six years.

He was born in Plymouth, Mass. on Sept. 24, 1920, the son of John and Rose (Bergdoll) Scheid. His youth was spent on the Plymouth County Farm where his father ran the dairy operation.

He did not think of attending college until he was prodded by his high school principal, who recognized his academic promise. He graduated from Boston University in 1942 and earned a doctorate in mathematics from MIT in 1948, following brief service in the Navy in World War II. He married his lifelong love, Barbara Paty, in 1944.

Dr. Scheid spent his professional career teaching mathematics at Boston University, serving as department chairman for 12 years. In the 1960s-70s, he prepared more than 100 television programs at WGBH-TV for the Harvard Commission on Extension Courses, which were used by the Navy and shown on public television, to the great delight of his three young daughters. He consulted for years at MIT’s Draper Lab, and traveled the world teaching math for the Navy, including two trips to McMurdo Station in Antarctica, earning him membership in the Society of the South Pole. He spent a sabbatical year as a Fulbright professor in Rangoon, Burma, and another year in Lausanne, Switzerland, writing one of his many math textbooks. His family accompanied him on the two sabbaticals.

He took up golf while in Rangoon, beginning a lifelong passion. His dual interests in golf and math developed into a study of golf statistics. His article “You’re not getting enough strokes!,” published in Golf Digest in June 1971, prompted the development of the current USGA slope handicapping system. As a result, Dr. Scheid became a charter member of the Handicap Research Team of the U.S. Golf Association, remaining an active member until physical limitations restricted his travel. He presented golf statistics research at the prestigious St. Andrews (Scotland) Scientific Congresses of Golf in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002. His association with the USGA enabled him to play golf at many of the world’s famous courses. He memorably birdied the 18th holes at both Pebble Beach and St. Andrews. His low handicap was 6, and he was president and seniors champion of the Plymouth (MA) Country Club. Other thrilling golf moments included his hole-in-one at North Hill Golf Course in Duxbury, MA, and the only par 6 hole he ever played, where one shot went through a barn window.

In his 50s he became an avid sailor, spending more than 25 summers enjoying the coastal waters between Plymouth and downeast Maine at the helm of his wooden schooner Great Circle. During its inaugural cruise through the Cape Cod Canal to the islands, the green skipper and crew went ashore on Cuttyhunk, climbed the hill and proceeded to watch the vessel drag its anchor, gently nudge a few boats and come to rest against another. The crew members no longer recall who graciously reunited the skipper and his craft. He only went seriously aground once, on the rocky shore above Camden, Maine, with a crew of Plymouth friends.

He was a longtime member of the Plymouth Yacht Club, serving as commodore in 1981-82. He imparted a love of sailing and the ocean, and especially Maine’s Penobscot Bay, to his children, grandchildren, and friends, who joined him on many cruises. He was proud that he taught all five grandchildren how to row a dinghy.

In his retirement, he spent many delightful years palling around in Plymouth with his daughter Sarah. He also continued to indulge his love of learning by teaching and taking many classes at the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement. He once brought a life-size cardboard cutout of Albert Einstein to attend his relativity class. He was not above regularly making the coffee on the mornings he arrived early.

Over the last fifteen years, he took his interests in golf and math in a completely new direction, self-publishing four short books under the name of Professor Golf. Their topics include the topology of golf courses, a primer on golf handicapping, the physics of a ball in flight, and a six-degrees-of-separation-style linking of Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam with golf’s earliest stars.

He was predeceased by his wife Barbara in 1981. His survivors include his daughter Betsy and son-in-law Brad Westgate of Nashua, New Hampshire, his daughter Lisa and son-in-law Ross Ramey of Jaffrey, New Hampshire, his daughter Sarah Scheid of Westford, Mass., and his brother Harold Scheid of Manchester, Conn. He is also survived by his five beloved grandchildren: Kate Radke, Ian Ramey, Barbara Halevi, Brad Westgate and James Ramey.

A celebration of Fran’s life will be held at noon on Saturday, March 26 at the Plymouth Yacht Club in Plymouth, Mass. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be made to the Huntington Scholarship Fund at The Huntington at Nashua, 55 Kent Lane, Nashua, NH 03062, which supports employees seeking to further their education.