Lionel Barthold Obituary

Lionel Barthold, a long-time resident of Lake George and Queensbury, NY, died peacefully at home on Wednesday, September 24, at the age of 99. He was a true Renaissance man who gave as much of himself to his family and community as he did his career as an engineer- a husband, a father, a grandfather, and “Chiefo”. Lionel’s careful, yet incredibly paced lifestyle - never in rest mode - inspired those who knew him.

Lionel Barthold was born in Great Barrington, MA, on March 20, 1926 and grew up in Winnetka, IL. He quit high school to begin a six-year career as a radio officer on merchant ships, sailing both on Atlantic and Pacific routes during WWII. After intermittent enrollments at Northwestern University, he graduated with a degree in Physics in 1950, having been elected to both Phi Beta Kappa (Scholastic) and Pi Mu Epsilon (Mathematics) honorary societies. After a brief assignment with Public Service Company of Indiana and a two year conscription into the Army during the Korean War, he joined General Electric Co., ultimately becoming manager of AC Power System Engineering in Schenectady, NY.

In 1969, Barthold resigned from GE to establish Power Technologies Inc.. PTI rapidly grew to international renown as a source of high technology consulting and research in electric power disciplines. PTI’s software remains the world standard for modelling large electrical networks. In 1987, he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineers.

Following the sale of PTI in 1994, Barthold served as an independent consultant and inventor, holding several patents for novel capacitive power transformers which serve, within a DC power system, the function served by magnetic transformers within conventional ac power systems. He held eight additional patents dealing with high voltage power and authored over 100 technical papers in US and international journals. He chaired several committees of the International Congress of High Voltage Electric Systems (CIGRE) and was a contributor to both US and international standards organizations dealing with electric power systems. In 2014 he was the first of three engineers to be named to “Fellow” grade of CIGRE. Barthold served as President of the U.S. Power Engineering Society, a major division of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and was honored with their 2019 gold medal lifetime achievement award in Power Engineering.

Lionel lent his leadership and vision to many businesses and organizations. He was a director of Trustco Bank and of Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, NY, chairman of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy and Land Trust, director of The Fund for Lake George, a board member of the Luzerne Music Camp and president of The Harrisena Community Church.

Lionel developed many interests. He honed his craft as a woodworker; the products of his Lake George workshop ranged from furniture to boats, to complex mechanical doorbells announcing visitors to his home. An avid sailor, he spent summers sailing around Lake George on his beloved Solveig, and skippered chartered sailboats in the Virgin Islands and Australia; he was often seen iceboating by moonlight in the winter.

He loved the outdoors and hiked or skied most of the Adirondack trails and mountains, taking his last run down a black diamond on his 92nd birthday at Gore Mountain. Lionel and his wife Deborah attended monthly gatherings with the Benedict’s dance club of Schenectady – and waltzed around many events between Saratoga and Lake George. He also had a rich singing voice, and shared it as a member of the Harrisena Community Church Choir for over 30 years. He swam each day at the YMCA of Glens Falls, nearly every morning, always working to perfect his stroke for maximum efficiency. He was a voracious reader and lifetime learner.

Lionel is survived by his wife, Deborah Barthold; his sons, Skip Barthold (Julie) of Philadelphia, PA, Scott Barthold (Joanie) of Lyme, NH, Richard Kline (Laura) of Saratoga Springs, NY, and Julian Barthold (Lucy) of Beverly, MA; his sister, Louise Keeling, of Del Mar, CA; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and cousins. He was predeceased by his first wife, Jeanne Barthold, who died tragically in 1987, and by his siblings, Walter, Stanley, and Sylvia Barthold.

A celebration of life will be held at Harrisena Community Church in Queensbury on October 18th at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Queensbury EMS or High Peaks Hospice, in appreciation of their support during Lionel’s final months. Contributions may also be made to the Glens Falls Symphony, the Adirondack Nature Conservancy, or Proctors Theatre—organizations Lionel supported for many years.