Norton Greenfeld
Norton Robert Greenfeld of Wayland passed away on Thursday, January 9, 2025 at the age of 79. Born in Miami Beach, FL to David Greenfeld and Lillian (Stiglitz) Greenfeld, Norton was the beloved husband of 45 years to Ellen (Dewald) Greenfeld.
They met one Saturday afternoon at a supermarket on Memorial Drive in Cambridge in the fall of 1977. A divorce had brought Norton from the LA area to Boston. While diametric opposites, they fell in love instantly, and perhaps because of this, never lost their deep respect and awe at what the other could accomplish.
A devoted father to Darcy (Greenfeld) Kremin and husband Terry, son Alexander Greenfeld, and twin daughters Hannah Greenfeld and Lindsey Greenfeld, as well as a loving grandfather to Joey Kremin and Fiona Kremin. He is predeceased by his older sister Carol (Greenfeld) Coltan, and an adored uncle and cousin to many across the country.
Norton was that rare combination of intelligence and humility. His twinkling eyes and gentle humor belied his deep understanding of both the sciences and the humanities. Norton had the natural ability to listen and then quickly synthesize the salient points of what were just said.
Norton attended the California Institute of Technology, receiving a BS in Mathematics in 1967, and Masters and PhD in Computer Science in 1968 and 1972, respectively. He was a part of the early group of DARPA funded researchers who were key in developing what is now known as the Internet and AI. Norton’s areas of expertise were AI programming languages, specialized AI hardware, and intelligent object-oriented graphics. Norton was an avid reader with a vast collection of science fiction books. In his long technical and business career, he created several start-ups and mentored and advised numerous individuals and companies. And his children and grandchildren relied on him constantly for his wise and calm counsel.
A celebration of Norton’s life is scheduled at the First Parish in Wayland on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 11 a.m. In his memory, charitable donations may be made in support of Dr. Paul Richardson’s Research Fund to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at PO Box 849168, Boston MA 02284, or www.dana-farber.org/gift.