Samuel John Wiegand

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Wiegand, Samuel John age 88, passed away peacefully November 7th, 2017, in his home in Reno, Nevada. He was surrounded by his loving wife Mary Ellen and his daughters. Sam was born in Omaha, Nebraska on January 31st, 1929. He spent his early years in Min-nesota. He was an excellent student and a strong sportsman. In 1949 Sam won an appointment to the prestigious U. S. Naval Academy and graduated with a degree in Engineering in 1952. Sam served aboard the U.S.S. Estes in the South Pacific Ocean from 1952 to 1955. In this capacity he was in the vanguard of atomic testing. Subsequently he and his fellow shipmates celebrated each year of their participation in the "Glow in the Dark Society". Upon leaving the service, Sam joined the Honeywell Corporation in 1955. This was the very beginning of the computer industry and Sam played a pioneering role in high technology. In 1969 Sam's family relocated to the Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay area. He served as the V.P. of Sales and marketing for Diablo Systems, a technology company that was sold to Xerox. He then joined the high flying start up Tandem Computer also as V. P. of Sales and Marketing, which became a market leader in non-stop computing. Subsequently he concluded his technology career as the CEO of the Industry's first lap top personal computer at Grid Systems. We will all greatly miss Sam, a wonderful husband, father and grandfather. He is survived by his wife, Mary Ellen (Hokanson), daughters, Johanna Harrison of Naples Florida, Jean Wiegand of Penn Valley, California, Susan Wiegand of St. Louis, Missouri, and Jennifer Edwards of Woodside, California. In addition, he leaves behind nine grandchildren, Mathew, Zachary and Sam Harrison, Oscar, Natalie and Daniel Wiegand, and Tabor, Reeff and Cleveland Edwards. Sam's two sisters in Minnesota, Jean Clark and Nancy Hirshfield will miss him terribly as will his many nieces and nephews. Sam's naval days led to a love of the sea. His ashes will be distributed in the Pacific Ocean following a small memorial service for family members only.

Published on November 12, 2017