Obituary of John Richard Laudermilch

John Richard Laudermilch, 91, died peacefully on October 17, 2011. John was born in January 2, 1920 in Cleona, Pennsylvania and became excited by amateur radio as a boy scout. He obtained his “ham” license at 15 and kept it updated until his death. He served in the Army Air Corp as a radio operator in Hawaii and worked in radio stations after his discharge. He met his wife of 58 years, Dorothy Kline, from Lancaster, PA, while working at RCA during the war years. John opened a television store in Palmyra, PA during the 1950s and later worked as an electronics technician for a variety of firms. As a technician he helped build radio equipment used in Apollo missions, worked on the first computers at IBM, and helped researchers on equipment that evolved into the MRI systems used in hospitals today. He retired from Varian in Palo Alto, CA during the mid-80s after about 25 years with that firm. After retirement Dorothy and John moved to Issaquah, Washington and after Dorothy's death in 2003 John moved to Newberg, Oregon. He was a resident at Astor House in Newberg for the last eight years where he proclaimed himself “Rotten” John, saying he was spoiled rotten. John is survived by his daughter Amy Does and son-in-law Lee Does, daughter Ann Flaherty, son-in-law Jim Flaherty, and by his grandchildren Kayla Hansen and Tyler Hansen and Tyler's wife Emily. He was a loving father and grandfather and will be missed. There will be no memorial service in keeping with John's wishes.