Lennart William Bjork
September 2, 1931 - May 1, 2024
Len Bjork, electrical engineer, outdoorsman, and beloved family patriarch, died peacefully at his home in Rohnert Park, California on May 1st. He was 92.
Lennart William Bjork was born September 2, 1931, in Boston, Massachusetts to Eleanor (Andersson) and Albin William Bjork, who emigrated from Oland, Sweden to the United States in the 1920s. During the hard times of the Great Depression, they returned to Sweden with their infant son. Len's first language was Swedish.
The family traveled back to the Boston area and found community with other Scandinavian immigrants. Len recalled his childhood during the Depression years as sometimes difficult, but also as a period imbued with the spirit of togetherness. Neighbors were generous and helped each other out.
Len served in the U.S. Army at Fort Benning, Georgia. He met his wife, Priscilla Dean Hall, on a blind date and they eloped in 1955. The couple had three children, one son and two daughters, all born in Boston. Len attended Northeastern University on the G.I. Bill and as a student, he worked at a bakery to support his growing family. He earned his degree in electrical engineering in 1958.
Len's first job was at Raytheon (now RTX) in Massachusetts, developing vacuum electron tubes and technology for transistors.
In 1964, an opportunity in California came along and he moved his family clear across the county. Len fell in love with the California lifestyle and the mid-century modernist Joseph Eichler homes designed for casual indoor/outdoor living. He scraped together money for the down payment to purchase a home in the Palo Alto Eichler development called Greenmeadow (now on the National Register of Historic Places).
Len was employed as an electrical engineer for Litton Industries in San Carlos where he worked on electronic countermeasures and was at the forefront of the development of night vision. He authored scientific papers and was awarded several patents for his inventions. He moved to Tempe, Arizona to work for Litton on night vision manufacturing and later worked for Varo, LLC in Garland, Texas and Varian Associates in Palo Alto as a manufacturing manager. Len finished his career back at Litton, then retired after more than forty years in engineering. Colleagues held him in high regard for his intelligence, fairness, and compassion.
Throughout his life, Len had a great love of the outdoors. He enjoyed fishing, skiing, camping, hiking, and backpacking. He shared his love of nature with his family on vacations to beaches, state and national parks, and planned trips for them to witness an active volcano in Hawaii and a receding glacier in Alaska.
During the counterculture years in the late 1960s, Len grew longish hair and took the family to be-ins and outdoor folk music concerts. Often inspired by the Whole Earth Catalog, he made macrame plant hangers, root beer, and pottery.
With vacation time, Len joined up with his hiking buddies, and trekked through much of the Appalachian Trail and sections of the Pacific Crest Trail as well, earning the trail name "Tater" for his willingness to peel and cook large batches of potatoes for camp meals.
An avid reader, Len devoured books and subscribed to multiple newspapers and magazines.
In retirement, he thrived, traveling with his wife on well-researched trips and cruises where they visited art museums and significant cultural sites all over the world.
In his final years Len enjoyed walking, movies, reading novels and histories of the American West, cooking dinners for his wife, making Swedish pancakes, and the fika coffee break ritual with his youngest daughter.
In addition to his wife of nearly 70 years, Len is survived by son Steven of El Sobrante, CA, daughters Carol (Otis) Taylor of Boulder, CO and Ann (Bill) Johnson of Rohnert Park, CA, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild, sister Linn Jackson of Wellington, CO and brother Lars Bjork of Lexington, KY.
Cremation has occurred, and in honor of Len's wishes, no memorial service will be held.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
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