Allan Wennerberg

Allan Lorens Wennerberg, 85, of St. Joseph, went to meet his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Wednesday, May 11, 2016, at Lakeland Medical Center in St. Joseph. A Celebration of Life Eternal will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, at Starks & Menchinger Chapel, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph, with Rev. Harris Hoekwater officiating. Cremation will follow the service.  Friends may visit with the family beginning at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.  In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital or St. Joseph First United Methodist Church.  Those wishing to sign Allan’s memory book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Allan was born January 20, 1931 in Chicago to Andrew Lorens & Clary (Lindemann) Wennerberg. He graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1948 and enlisted with the United States Navy, serving his country during the Korean War.  On February 8, 1953, he married Gloria Jean Pitlik at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Joseph. He earned his Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from Indiana Technical College in 1956 and, on June 4, 1961, graduated from the University of Notre Dame with his Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering. He also did studies at Michigan and Stanford Universities. Allan joined Whirlpool Corporation in 1957 after working with Sylvania Microwave Research. In the 1960s, Al and his team worked to develop equipment for space travel, pioneering the development of food, waste management and personal hygiene systems used in all of NASA’s Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab missions.  He was employed at Whirlpool as Director of Electronics System Research, retiring in 1989 after 33 years.   He has a number of patents in the electronic control fields and authored several technical papers.  As an inventor and pioneer of electronic control circuits and microprocessors, Al’s work has gone on to be used worldwide by notable companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co., General Electric, Motorola, Bosch, and many more. Al was a member of St. Joseph First United Methodist Church, BH-SJ Rotary Club, and Whirlpool Management Club. As a retired engineer, he was always fascinated by modern technology.  In retirement he enjoyed biking, hiking, traveling, photography, and as always – tending to his yard.  He was a man of great faith, honesty, integrity, leadership, and love.  His quick wit and humor kept you on your feet at all times; sometimes the sparkle in his eye was the only way to know if he was pulling your leg or not! Allan is survived by his wife of 63 years, Gloria; daughters, Kathy Maxson, and Beth (Chuck) Wallace, both of St. Joseph; granddaughters, Holly (Rob) Harbin of St. Joseph, and April (Zach) Carson of Stevensville; and four great-grandchildren: Gloria Grace Harbin, Wyatt David, Aubrey Kate, and Courtney Paige Carson. He was preceded in death by his parents.