Arthur Erikson Capstaff of Marblehead, Massachusetts died April 2013 after a two and a half year battle with cancer. He was the beloved husband of Diane Murphy Capstaff for 42 years.He also leaves a loving sister-in-law,Joan Murphy Parkinson, 5 nephews and a niece plus 12 great nephews and nieces. He was born November 7, 1944 in Newport News, Virginia.

Art had over twenty-five years as an independent consultant and professor addressing issues relating to marketing and policy impacts of industrial and information technologies. Most recently, he had turned his attention again to the vexing question of critical raw material supply from non-traditional sources by surveying the technologies required to recover strategically important minerals from the marine environment, specifically the deep ocean.

Capstaff established his consultancy following collaboration in an early research program that led to the development of a series of economic evaluation models for assessing the potential for providing critical metals from manganese nodules, metallic oxide accretions found most abundantly on the floors of the eastern equatorial Pacific basins. These models, developed at MIT became the prime negotiating tool throughout the 20-year gestation period of the U. N.'s Law of the Sea Treaty.

Prior to this research and subsequent consulting, Art was Marketing Manager for Automotive Applications of Thermostatic Metals at Texas Instruments' Attleboro, MA facility after spending the initial four years of his career as Sales Engineer for International NIckel Company's Huntington Alloys Division in Upper New England.

Art is the Past Chair of the New Hampshire Chapter of the American Society of Metals and of the New England Section of of the Marine Technology Society. He was a member of the Marine Metals Society and most recently co-authored and presented a paper on Kennecott Copper's Cuprion ammoniacal leach reduction to electrowin copper and nickel and precipitate cobalt as a sulfide at UMI 2005.

He received his Bachelor's degree in Metallurgical Engineering from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, MBA in Marketing from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA and SM in Technology and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA.

Since 1998, he enjoyed serving in the Coast Guard Auxiliary and held the positions of flotilla commander, vessel inspector, and finance officer.The highlight of those activities was teaching both beginning and advanced boating classes for the Power Squadron and Coast Guard Auxillary to people who loved the water as much as he did.

He was a member of the Eastern Yacht since 1981 and served on the history and race committee. He was also a member of the New York Yacht Club since 1992 and served on the race committee. He currently is Chairman of the Seamanship committee.

Art's passion was boating and seamanship. He enjoyed boating off the coast of Maine on his boat Dasher, discussing boating with people at the boatyard, and visiting with his many boating friends. He loved to take long walks on the beach especially on South Beach on Martha's Vineyard. Art loved Marblehead and enjoyed walking from place to place, greeting friends, visiting with people and cheering their lives with a friendly smile and a whistle.

His Funeral Mass will be held at Our Lady, Star of the Sea,35 Atlantic Ave. Marblehead, Ma on Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 11:00 AM. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. At the family's request there are no visiting hours. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers,donations may be made to Maine Coast Heritage Trust 1 Bowdoin Mill Island, Suite 201, Topsham, ME 04086, (http://www.mcht.org) or The Island Institute , P.O. Box 648 , 386 Main Street,Rockland, Maine 04841 (http://www.islandinstitute.org)

For online guest book or additional information please call the Murphy Funeral Home, 85 Federal St, Salem MA 01970, 781 631 8885 or visit www.MurphyFuneralHome.com.