Leonard D. Lipner

Dr. Leonard D. Lipner, 82, of Worcester, MA, died peacefully in his home on December 30, 2023. He leaves his wife of 58 years, Lea Lucía Lipner, of Worcester; a brother, James Lipner of Montclair, NJ; a son, Ariel Lipner of Worcester; a daughter, Victoria Broniscer, of Arlington MA; seven grandchildren, two great-grandsons and two nephews. Leonard was predeceased by his parents, Jack and Margaret Lipner, brother Steven Lipner, and sister Susan Lipner.

Born November 28, 1941, in Brooklyn, NY, Len grew up in Brooklyn and Queens playing stickball, skelly, and ring-o-levio and eating knishes, hotdogs, and pickles, as kids do in Brooklyn. He studied mathematics at Jamaica HS (class of ‘58), Queens College (‘62), and the University of California, Berkeley (’70), where he graduated with a PhD in Mathematical Logic. Though he had planned to be a math teacher, life's curious twists led him to spend most of his career in the field of Information Technology. He worked with IBM, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, State Mutual Life (now The Hanover Group,) BGS Systems (now part of BMC Corp.), and Prime Arithmetics. In retirement he enjoyed part-time math teaching. 

At WPI, Len was recruited by Dr. Norm Sondak in 1972 to be a member of one of the first Computer Science departments in the United States. At BGS Systems, he published and presented over 80 papers in the field of computer performance analysis and capacity planning. He traveled widely, delivering technical computer courses, and management seminars and gave over 400 presentations, seminars, and courses worldwide.

He was a lifelong choral singer, starting in Hebrew School (Congregation Shaari Zedek, Brooklyn) at age 7, and continuing with a variety of professional and community choruses, including the Worcester Chorus. He was especially proud of two performances: Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Boston Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall and Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood.

After leaving the IT industry, he became active as a storyteller. He served on the Board of Directors and as Treasurer of LANES, the League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling. He also served many years on the organizing committee for their annual conference, Sharing the Fire. In 2001, he co-chaired the National Storytelling Conference in Providence, RI. He told stories in many venues, including the weekly gathering now called Story Space, originally organized by the late Ruth Hill and the late Brother Blue in Cambridge. Following Len’s wishes, cremation has taken place through the care of MERCADANTE FUNERAL HOME & CHAPEL, Worcester. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Those who wish to remember Len by way of a memorial tribute are kindly asked to consider St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN - https://www.stjude.org