John Munson
June 11, 1930 - December 9, 2016
Los Gatos, California
John, known as Jack by his family, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota as the Depression began, and spent his early years in the Twin Cities, skipping two grades as a young boy. As a young adult, John pursued degrees in Chemical Engineering at the University of Minnesota and University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he met Dorothy Drewes, his wife of 63 years.
Throughout his university years, John was a member of the R.O.T.C. and served in the Army at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama from 1953 to 1956, where he taught at the Army Guided Missile School, and where his two oldest children were born. With the Army, he worked on some of the early designs for the space program.
John was a pioneer in the computer industry, moving around the country and overseas for Du Pont, Control Data Corporation, General Electric and ComputerVision. He and his family moved to Silicon Valley in 1969. John managed major computer installations around the world, including an extended period behind the Iron Curtain in the early 1970s installing systems in Romania.
John had many interests, including sailing, reading, politics and travel, and was a devoted hockey fan and season ticket holder of the Sharks. At the onset of his interest in travel, and emblematic of the innocence of another era, in 1945, John and another 15 year old friend hitch-hiked from Minneapolis to San Francisco and back, with his most memorable adventure being the ride through Arizona with the gas ration counterfeiter, who pitched a tantrum and scattered his trunkful of bogus ration cards all over the desert floor when the car radio announced the end of World War II. In his later years, John pursued his passion for playing and watching tennis, and was the devoted scheduler for many years for senior games and tournaments. He cultivated an equal passion for learning, discussion and laughter among a large group of friends in the "Liars' Club" of Silicon Valley.
John is survived by his wife and four children, Bradley Munson, Gregory Munson, Judith Kemp and Kenneth Munson, and four grandchildren, Jacqueline Kemp, Troy Munson, Evan Kemp and Lauren Munson, and by his sister, Janet Deming. His family is grateful for the care and attention he received at The Terraces and by the members of the Vitas Hospice providers.
Published in San Jose Mercury News/San Mateo County Times on Dec. 28, 2016
