* Reeve Darling; Consultant on Defense Technology

Reeve Darling, 65, who became a nationally respected consultant in the field of defense technology despite being confined to a wheelchair by a crippling illness doctors were never able to identify. Darling owned the Los Angeles Consulting Group in Century City, and his clients included Litton Industries and Hughes Aircraft. With the help of drivers and other assistants, he traveled the country, while other aides tended to him at home. On the job, he used a tube attached to a vacuum switch that he activated with his breath to dial the phone and use dictating machines. Darling also was chairman of the Presidents’ Roundtable, a group of 50 senior executives in the defense industry who meet three times a year to discuss trends. In Santa Monica on Friday of pneumonia.