Henry Earl Singleton - Personal Life

Personal Life

At 83 years of age, Henry Singleton, died of brain cancer on August 31, 1999, at his West Los Angeles home. He was survived by his wife of 53 years, Caroline, and five children.

Singleton had met the former Caroline Woods of Cambridge, Massachusetts, while he was first attending MIT, and they married in 1942. Caroline W. Singleton died in 2007. Throughout their years together, the Singletons commissioned two significant American architects for two notable houses. The first, designed by architect Richard Neutra in 1959, was the well known mid-century modern 'Singleton House' in the Los Angeles Bel Air area. The second house was designed by architect Wallace Neff in 1973; it was a large residence of French-Norman style in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles.

During his working years, Singleton served as a director of Apple Computer, Inc. (1977–1980); member of the MIT Corporation, the MIT Governing Board (1968–1973); trustee of California Institute of Technology (1968–1974); member of the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (1959); and was a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). A financial and political conservative, Singleton was co-trustee of the blind trust for Ronald Reagan while Reagan was President of the United States.

For recreation, Singleton played tournament chess, collected fine wines, and hiked and camped in the wilderness areas of California. A voracious reader, he could recite lengthy passages from Shakespeare and classical poetry. He studied Native American cultures and Western folklore.

Singleton devoted much time to personal computers, programming algorithms and creating a computer version of backgammon specifically for Macintosh fans. He was personally a primary financial backer of Apple Computer when it was incorporated in 1977.