Derek Lancaster Hine
Aug. 4, 1935-May 17, 2025
Portola Valley, California
Derek Lancaster Hine passed away near his home in Portola Valley, California, after a long battle with dementia and multiple myeloma.
Born in 1935 to Joseph Lancaster Hine and Lilian Amy Ault, Derek was a proud “Coventry kid.” One of six siblings, his early years were shaped by World War II. Separated from his family, he was evacuated to Shipston in the Cotswolds for two years. Rejoining his family, they watched from Mobbs Wood Farm as Coventry burned in the Blitz. After his father died of tuberculosis, his mother, along with older siblings Keith and Iris, raised him and his younger brothers, Gordon and Colin.
Over the next eight decades, Derek would live a remarkable life—as an aeronautical engineer, pilot, ski patroller, entrepreneur, vintage motorcycle collector, marathon runner, husband, and father. Everything he did, he approached with intensity, energy, passion, and humor.
His education began at John Gulson School, where discipline was strict and physical punishment common. Determined and resourceful, he earned money for a bicycle through two paper routes and soon bought his first of many Vincent motorcycles. As a teenager, he joined the Air Training Corps and took his first flight to Gibraltar. He pursued aeronautical studies, earning a Certificate of Engineering Apprenticeship and a Higher National Certificate in Engineering from Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. There, as an apprentice, he contributed to various aircraft design projects.
Faced with the prospect of mandatory military service in postwar England, Derek instead followed his adventurous spirit to North America, where he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force. In the late 1950s, after Canadian defense cutbacks, he found himself in Toronto with only a few dollars in his pocket. Undeterred, he headed to the United States, lured by the skiing in Utah. He took a job at Morton Thiokol in Logan, working on tracked snow vehicles, then moved to General Motors in Santa Barbara to work on a lunar rover proposal. Later, while working long hours on the Lockheed C-5A project as a “job shopper,” he took a rare day off to go skiing—an outing that would change his life.
That Thanksgiving at Squaw Valley, Derek met Susan Kell, who happened to be riding single on a chairlift. They bonded over a shared love of “The Goon Show,” and it was the start of 58 years of marriage filled with travel, adventure, and above all, the joy of raising their two sons, Graham Lancaster and Roger George.
Derek soon entered his entrepreneurial phase. His first company, A.R.E.C., introduced the Snow Job motorcycle conversion. He later founded Hine Design Inc., a family effort that included Gordon, Keith, and his sons. The company built robotics for the semiconductor industry and, after 12 successful years, was sold to Asyst Technologies.
Derek “retired”—sort of. A visit to Hawaii to see his friend Joe Rizzi sparked the idea of a wave-powered vehicle. This led to a new venture with Roger: the founding of Liquid Robotics. Their Wave Glider, an autonomous ocean vehicle, gathered data across the globe and was eventually acquired by Boeing.
His passion for flight culminated in earning his pilot's license with neighbor Maureen Houck. After owning a Cessna, Derek built his own Lancair IV-P, N114L, with the help of friends Brent Regan and Neesh Wallace. It became his pride and joy, carrying him across the continent—including annual trips to the Oshkosh airshow. His version of an African safari was joining fellow pilots for an aerial tour of the Serengeti with Susan.
Derek’s love for skiing began on wooden skis and leather boots in Montreal and led to 25 years as a volunteer ski patroller at Alpine Meadows. He heliskiied and cat-skied whenever he could, often with his sons or friends. To stay fit for skiing—and keep his mind sharp—he took up long-distance running, sharing many miles and marathons with his good friend Gerry Barker.
He had a lifelong fascination with space and astronomy, inspiring his sixth-grade son to write a twelve-page paper titled Black Holes, Stars, and Stellar Evolution, which earned an A+. A highlight of Derek’s later years was receiving a phone call from astronaut Tim Peake aboard the International Space Station.
Though dementia and cancer gradually took him from us, Derek’s spirit never faded. Even in his final days, shows about black holes captured his full attention, and his wit continued to shine—delighting and surprising his caregivers with jokes and playful humor.
The family deeply thanks those wonderful caregivers from Ivy Park at Palo Alto, 1+1 Cares, and Betty Kaufusi Mafi. This is only part of Derek’s story—he’d be the first to remind us of the missing details, and he would have relished the opportunity to fill them in himself.
Emigrating from England, Derek achieved his version of the American Dream. Through his dedication, curiosity, and tireless energy, he gave his family a full and generous life. For that, and for so much more, we are forever grateful.
