July 25, 1924 – June 20, 2023
Our beloved father, Gordon Ditlev Svendsen, passed away peacefully on June 20, 2023. Gordon was a dedicated and dutiful husband to his wife Erlinda Perez Svendsen and father to his two children, Janice and Mark. Gordon's life exemplified a man of stability, excellent work ethic and devotion to his family and his chosen profession, electrical engineering.
Gordon was born in Alberta Canada on July 25, 1924, to immigrants from Denmark. Gordon was an only child and had an interest in building radios and tinkering in electronics. As a teen, Gordon had a pirate radio station in the town of Standard, Alberta playing big band music until the town sheriff found him and shut down the radio station. Not deterred, Gordon built radios and built a tape recorder with the help of a teacher, at a time before there were tape recorders to buy.
When World War II started, Gordon joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and was based in Newfoundland as a radio operator with the responsibility of scanning for German submarines near the East Coast of Canada. Our father had some very funny stories about his time as a radio operator. He would tell stories about how after meals with his fellow airmen working on their radio boat, the crew would throw all the dishes overboard instead of washing them.
After the war, Gordon pursued a college degree from the University of Alberta in Electrical Engineering. Upon graduation, Gordon received an offer letter from Ampex Corporation in Redwood City, California in 1952. This was the start of a career at Ampex Corporation that lasted almost 40 years. His power supply designs were recognized with several patents. Gordon's particular interest was loudspeakers, microphones and tape recorders which were a part of Skylab, the Space Shuttle, and the Patriot Missile Defense programs.
Gordon married, Erlinda Perez, whom he met at a dance in San Francisco in 1955 and they eventually had two children, Janice, and Mark.
Words cannot say enough in love and gratitude to our father, Gordon Svendsen. Thank you, Papa, for caring for us all so well. We'll see you again. We love you.
GRAVESIDE
Skylawn Memorial Park-
Hwy 92 @ Route 35
San Mateo, CA 94402
