David Gunderson

David Reed Gunderson

December 6, 1937 ~ November 12, 2020

David Reed Gunderson passed away on November 12, 2020 in South Ogden, Utah after an extended illness. He was born December 6, 1937, in Mt Pleasant, Utah, to Reed and Leoan Gunderson. He lived in Mt. Pleasant, Salt Lake City, Provo, Charleston, Kamas, the Uinta Mountains by the Duchesne Tunnel, South Ogden, Utah and New Jersey. As a family, he especially loved living in the Uinta Mountains and following the construction of the Duchesne tunnel.

David, as a 6 year old suffered from rheumatic fever which left him weak and unable to walk for a year.  Unable to attend school, he fell far behind his peers and was subjected to rather harsh treatment by a teacher.  Nevertheless, over years, young David worked extra hard just learning to read and write. Soon, David excelled in school and developed a deep love of learning.

His father was in charge of directing the course of the six mile Duchesne Tunnel. Many hours of planning and surveying went into the project. His dad included David by explaining the situation and taking him on the many surveying efforts. When convenient his dad took him into the tunnel as he figured and checked the line and grade of the tunnel. The tunnel was started on west side of the mountains near by the Provo River and it would meet with the end of a shorter tunnel that had been driven from the “other side” of the mountains (East) which was the head waters of the Duchesne River, where they were building a dam, spill way, and reservoir to feed water into the tunnel. They “holed through” December 10.1951 as 7:14 p.m. and David accompanied his father, in fact he was the first person through the blasted debris and was photographed by the team working the east side tunnel. The line and grade of the two tunnels diverged from the design line by less than a tenth-of-an-inch which was unheard of accuracy using only the optical instruments of that time. David thrived in this environment.

We then moved to South Ogden Utah. David was part of a great Scout Explorer group from the 38th ward of his church. He got his Eagle Scout Award along with 12 other boys. A professional Caterer in the ward hired him to assist their family business. He became a valuable helper and cook as he assisted them.  He was asked to be the stage manager at Weber High School as he was familiar with circuits and electricity He then graduated with math and science honor awards in 1956. He also graduated from Seminary. In the summers he was hired as a surveyor by the Forest Service due to his earlier experiences and knowledge.

He attended Weber College and graduated in June of 1958. He also graduated from his church’s Institute of Religion. He was asked to sing in many productions “All Faces West,” “The Messiah,” and the “Oratorio.”

In June of 1958 he was called to serve a three-year mission to Japan for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After his mission David gained approval to stay in Japan for a time to study and be taught the Formal Japanese Language by Buddhist Priests.

After 3 plus years he returned to Utah and was required to take an entrance exam for mathematics at the University of Utah and he received the highest score. While attending the University of Utah he also worked for the Upper Air Research Department. In 1963 he earned a BS in Electrical Engineering, Magna Cum Laude and was the Valedictorian and Baccalaureate speaker.

He was granted a NASA fellowship enabling him to pursue his PhD in Electrical Engineering. His thesis was on Two Millimeter Backward-Wave Oscillators which was funded by the U.S. Air Force.  He graduated in 1969 with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Summa Cum Laude and a minor in Physics.  He also graduated from the Institute of Religion at the University of Utah in 1963 and received a special certificate from the Institute in 1965.

In 1969, he was hired by Bell Laboratories which was one of the premier scientific companies in the world, which later included Tyco.  Bell Labs was in Holmdel, New Jersey, He became especially close to a few other young engineers when they shared a ‘bachelor pad’ in the early days.  Dave enjoyed many hours with his boating partners sailing on the Navesink River and in the New York harbor. From the harbor he witnessed the Bicentennial Celebration.  He was a trusted mentor, confidant, and life coach for dozens of children, adults, and families.

At Bell Labs he quickly established himself as a technical leader in a culturally diverse department of engineers, together designing the world’s first ‘long haul’ digital communication network based on millimeter wave technology. The world became connected through high quality undersea fiber optic cables that formed the backbone for world-wide digital network and long-distance communications.

He married Kathryn Ann Cowley on December 30, 1971 in the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In winter he loved to go skiing with his friends on trips to Vermont and New Hampshire and joined them

on visits to museums and cultural events in New York City.  He also loved classical music and even built a harpsichord.  Always generous of his time, he was leader of an Explorer Scout Post at Bell labs for 25 years for which he received an Explorer Scouting District Award for 25 years of service as an advisor and in addition he helped 12 Scouts achieve the Eagle Rank.  He was asked by Bell Labs to teach a conversational Japanese class in their Out of Hours Education Group which he did for 3 years and had as high as 75 class members.  He read and collected hundreds of books and had many historical volumes.

He captivated generations of children with wonderful stories about his dog from childhood, ‘Ol Rip”.  He loved joining his friends and their relatives - parents, children, aunts, uncles and cousins at their family gatherings and celebrations. Dave was always the hit of the party and a trusted mentor, confidant, and life coach for dozens of children, adults, and families. He was a very good Base Singer, played the violin and was known as a kind and thoughtful teacher. He served in the local Church Ward as a member of the Bishopric, and held numerous other leader ship callings and as a teacher. He was also very well versed in the Scriptures.

He joined groups performing leading edge work in satellite technology. His new responsibilities were to work on new services that could be placed on their satellite network. He traveled all over the country to make proposals, investigate possibilities, and to assist in the installation of new equipment. Some of the new things that he proposed were Transponders Switched Time Domain Multiple Access (TSTDMA) transmission, centralized monitoring and control of a TV distribution network, and start “out back” phone distribution network, and various aspects of the Picture Phone network. He also presented papers on these projects in Toronto Canada and Seattle. It was during this period that he received the Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff Award.

In 1982, He was transferred to the undersea cable department. They had just decided to migrate from analog cable systems to digital optical systems in the undersea plan and plans were being laid for a new system (TAT–8) to provide 250,000 digital voice circuits to both England and French on a branch cable system. A similar system (TP–3) was being planned for transmission to both Guam and Japan in the Pacific. A test system was to be deployed in the Atlantic, in the Canaries, to demonstrate the viability of the cable handling techniques and the equipment. He was nominated to be the project coordinator of the Canary Island project. This experimental system was to be purchased by the Spanish Telephone Company after the experiments were through to provide telecommunications capacity between the islands off Gran Canaria and Tenerife. He also coordinated the development of a movie on the project.

He presented a paper on this work at a conference in Paris and one in New York City. This led to many trips to both Japan and Europe. During the trip to Europe, he visited Spain, France and England, gave a paper in a conference in Amsterdam, and went on to Norway to visit Risor, this involved his getting off the train at a deserted train station in the middle of night and sleeping overnight outside on a station bench. It rained several times and he had to seek shelter in a telephone booth. Later he was assigned to plan and develop portable test equipment to be used in the installation and repair of these systems. This led him to being assigned on this ship for several months during the cable burial off Atlantic City, New Jersey. Later he served on a French ship used to repair the Canary Island system. When the final splices and final tests were made for TAT-8, he was on the ship and as soon as the cable was aboard and connected to his equipment, he made a call on the system, which was the first transatlantic phone call made on that system.

He was then involved in system engineering and was asked to work on new system proposals and to give seminars on optical technology to prospective customers, and to be the technical engineer for several of the systems for which Bell had received contracts, and to work with the engineers at home to develop new equipment and procedures. This last responsibilities lead to several patents. Because of these broad responsibilities, he was asked to travel extensively. He had the opportunity of flying around the world both to the east and to the west. He visited Japan repeatedly and had the opportunity to meet many of his old friends and visit places again. Kathryn was often able to travel with him and share memories.

While he was in Australia in 1994, he became ill with pneumonia and cellulitis and nearly died. The company sent Kathryn down while he recuperated. His sister Gayle flew down as well. They did not expect him to live. The Sidney Hospital personnel came and notified the family that they had to shut the switch board down as so many people were inquiring about his well being.

Travels included Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Australia and a brief visit to New Zealand. In the Indian Ocean they visited India and Reunion Island. Then South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Israel, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the Canary Islands, Portugal, Madera and southern France, England, Scandinavia, Germany, Netherlands and various cities in France including Paris many times. Then he went to South America and Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. North America included Canada, Mexico, and numerous cities in the USA.

They were able to take his mom to Hawaii. David and his mother traveled to Egypt and Israel and on other trips. David and his parents and went to China, Spain, and Scandinavia, which was special to them as they were able to visit Denmark and Norway.  David’s father especially appreciated that, as he needed some help to travel due to sickness.

In 2002 David retired from the Undersea Cables Laboratory and Bell Labs and wrapped up 32+ years career that included established himself as a technical leader in a culturally diverse department of engineers, together designing the world’s first ‘long haul’ digital communication network based on millimeter wave technology. The world became connected through high quality undersea fiber optic cables that formed the backbone for world-wide digital network and long-distance communications. His efforts included the installation of undersea fiber optic cables under the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans and the Red and Mediterranean Seas. His language skills helped open Japan as a major hub for Bell Lab Systems. He helped open markets in Papua New Guinea to Japan plus markets in Europe, India and West Africa. He performed leading edge work in satellite network technology. For his significant contributions he was awarded the title “Distinguished Member of Technical Staff”. David traveled extensively while deeply enjoying each country’s cultural heritage, food and wonderful people. With his easy style, technical brilliance, widespread interests and love of life, Dave made hundreds of friends all over the world.

In 2002 David retired from the Undersea Cables Laboratory and wrapped up 32+ years career that included the developing and negotiating with foreign countries for intercontinental undersea fiber optic cables and included the installation of undersea fiber optic cables under the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans and the Red and Mediterranean Seas. David then moved away from the New Jersey area but kept in touch with his friends there.  He settled in Ogden, Utah living with Kathryn. In retirement, David was an adjunct professor in U of U Engineering. He did consulting on undersea cables and translation of technical information. He also served as the High Priest Group Leader and was the first Councilor in the Bishopric in his home ward. He loved genealogy and published the Early Mt. Pleasant, Utah History, and the Gunderson and Madsen books.

David and Kathryn sincerely appreciated the love and help they received from their neighbors and friends in the Jefferson Third Ward.  They were always helping them in every way and as needed.  Sincere appreciation from the family is extended as well.

Survivors are his wife, Kathryn Ann Gunderson; his sister, Gayle Gunderson (Gary) Hunting of Garden Grove, CA; brother-in-law, Charles (Vicki) Cowley of Ogden, Utah; 7 nieces and nephews, and 20 great nieces and nephews.

Graveside services will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2020 at 2 p.m. at the Ogden City Cemetery, 1875 Monroe Blvd. Friends may visit with family on Saturday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd. A memorial service will be held at a later date depending on Covid-19 conditions.