David J. Kaup

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October 9, 2023

My condolences to the family of Dr. Kaup and I'm sorry for the late posting, but I just found this when searching his name online.

I was one of his students at Clarkson University in the mid to late 1980's. He was known for being one of the smartest... moreMy condolences to the family of Dr. Kaup and I'm sorry for the late posting, but I just found this when searching his name online.

I was one of his students at Clarkson University in the mid to late 1980's. He was known for being one of the smartest people on campus, a grad student once remarked admiringly that "he can juggle Bessel functions in his head". What some people might not know was he was also very compassionate...

When I was a senior, I was struggling academically for various reasons and my final physics course before graduation was Dr. Kaup's optics course. I was failing miserably and if I did, I would not have graduated on time and also gotten into trouble with the Army because I was on an ROTC scholarship. I explained the situation to him and asked if he could give me a D. He gave a little smile and said, "ok, you've got your D".

I was always very grateful to him for that. What he never knew was after graduation, I switched to Electrical Engineering which I excelled at academically and I went on to having a successful career as a software engineer. My path might have been very different were it not for his act of kindness.

Fast forward 20 years, I am living and working in Orlando, Florida and I decide to brush up on my math skills by taking some courses at the University of Central Florida. One day as I'm walking down the hall in the math building, I see a tall figure who looked very familiar. Lo and behold it is Dr. Kaup. I wanted to go to his office to thank him for what he did for me so many years ago and to tell him that his kindness was not misplaced - that I had done well, but I don't know if I was too embarrassed or too shy or whatever, but I did not. I saw him from a distance occasionally on campus over a period of several years and always thought I'd have time to stop in and talk to him when the time was right. I took a break from courses at the university for several years when things got too busy. About a week ago I was thinking of restarting and I remembered Dr. Kaup. I thought surely he must be retired by now, but when I googled his name, I found he had passed, for which I am very sorry. I never knew anything about his personal life, so I was glad to see here that he had a family and was loved and well cared for.

Anyways, I don't know if anyone will read this so long after his passing, but just thought I would share my story here since I missed the opportunity to share it with him. less

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June 24, 2022 · via mobile

Uncle David was my dad's older brother. What I remember most about Uncle David are his booming laugh and bright, interested eyes. When I was a kid, he was interested in what I had to say instead of talking at me like most adults did. He had a good way... more

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June 22, 2022

I'm Michael Kaup and David was my oldest brother. My earliest memory of David was when I was probably around 4 or 5.. He had just mounted a "walking stick" (Insect, I don't remember the scientific name). So I was mad with him over something... more

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June 20, 2022

Here's a photo of the last time I saw Dad when I visited June 2021. He was sort of like a big kid during this time, enjoying ice cream and taking nature walks with me and Galen. He shared a lot of memories about his boyhood in Missouri, so it was nice to... more

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