KONRAD HOWARD STOKES passed away

in Green Valley on Jan. 29, 2009, after a courageous battle with lung cancer.

He was born Feb. 15, 1923, in Waitsfield, Vt., the son of Gerald Oakley Stokes, who was a town Selectman, Constable and tax collector. His mother, Laura B. Stokes, was town librarian and Postmaster for 25 years. Konrad attended public school in Waitsfield and graduated in 1941 and went on to attend the University of Vermont. A member of ROTC, he went into the reserves following Pearl Harbor and was called to active duty a year later. He served in both the European and Pacific theatres as a member of the U.S. Army’s Signal Corps.

Upon returning to the U.S., Konrad married Lois Batchelder Brown on Sept. 18, 1946. He completed his bachelor’s degree in physics at the University of Vermont in 1947, and went on to earn a Master’s degree at Syracuse University. Professionally he became a leader in the application of electronics, first to control systems and eventually to the computer control of complex industrial processes. He worked for Honeywell, Fenwall, and IBM.

Konrad’s employment took him and his family from the Philadelphia area to Barrington, R.I., to Los Gatos, Calif. and provided them with the wonderful opportunity of living two years in Boeblingen, Germany.

The last years of his career were spent in the new field of clean room technology. He helped lead the development of this technology at IBM, and after his retirement became the Director of the NSF Center for Micro-contamination Control at the University of Arizona. This position brought Konrad and Lois to Green Valley in 1985.

After retiring from the University of Arizona, Konrad became active in the Green Valley community as a member of the Green Valley Coordinating Council. He and Lois moved to the La Posada community in 2002 and made many new, wonderful friends.

Konrad was a member of Valley Presbyterian Church, Rotary Club of Green Valley, the Vermont Club, the Society of Colonial Wars, Mad River Masonic Lodge #77, the Mt. Sinai Shrine Temple of Vermont, and served in many leadership roles in the Institute of Environmental Sciences. Throughout his life he was known as a good friend, loving father and devoted husband.

In retirement, Konrad and Lois enjoyed visiting, with travel trailer, all of the counties of California, many state parks in the Western states, all of the national parks plus numerous visits to British Columbia. A favorite destination was Sandpoint, Idaho, and nearby Lake Pend Oreille for golf and fishing.

Konrad Stokes is survived by Lois, his wife of 62 years; daughter Kathryn Scott and her husband Stan of Los Gatos; son Gerald and his wife Amy of Tokyo, Japan and Washington, D.C.; and son Chandler and his wife Karen of Grand Rapids, Mich. and Berkeley, Calif. Konrad also leaves five grandchildren: Samantha, Garrett, Jeremy, Dustan Stokes and Sasha Scott.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Casa de Esperanza, Valley Presbyterian Church, La Posada’s scholarship fund or a charity of one’s choice.

A Memorial Service will be held Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. in the Madera Room at La Posada. All who knew him are welcome to come and remember with the family.