Obituary of Robert Joseph Gurth

Robert J. Gurth (Bob) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. After the death of his father when he was age two, his mother moved to California where he grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Drafted out of high school into the Army, he served with American troops on Okinawa. After his discharge from the Army in 1946, he attended college at the University of California Berkeley where he majored in Business Administration. After graduation, he accepted employment with the General Electric Company at Hanford in Richland, Washington in the belief he was coming to the “Evergreen State”. His initial shock abated when he met a local girl, Barbara Thorpe, who was employed as a secretary with the Atomic Energy Commission. They were married for 66 happy years, raising four children together. He lived out a successful career of over forty years at Hanford in the desert climate of the Tri-Cities he came to love and call home. After his retirement at age 70, Bob and Barbara retired to Vancouver, Washington where his image of the evergreen state became a reality. At Hanford, Bob’s study in Business Administration evolved into a lifetime career in computer science when he was sent by GE to New York to learn computer technology at IBM. As one of a team of three, he participated in the installation of the first computer at Hanford. Throughout his career he held management positions with several companies: GE, Computer Sciences Corporation, Boeing, and Westinghouse. Though he seldom talked about his work, he always marveled at how much the computer industry had changed in all the years he worked within it , from a “dinosaur” in a climate controlled room in the1950’s, to an office with small monitors on his desk when he retired in the 1990’s, to the challenges of ever changing technology that he held in his hand after his retirement. After moving to Vancouver, he accepted part-time employment at Fred Meyer Grand Central in the electronics department where he thoroughly enjoyed working with a younger crew, often becoming a mentor. His life in the Tri-Cities was active. He never missed a school play or a ball game when his work didn’t take him out of town. He served as President of Univac Users Association, an international organization where he met pioneers in the computer field. He served on several community boards including the Kennewick School Board, the Tri-Cities Enological Society where he was a founding member, and the Tri-Cities Arts Council of the Mid-Columbia Region. An avid music fan with a passion for Beethoven, he supported the much acclaimed Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He and Barbara enjoyed hosting their family and many friends in their Vancouver home. They travelled the world but enjoyed exploring places in and around the Pacific Northwest, Oregon, and in Colorado where their children had settled. He loved nature and was an enthusiastic hiker. He instilled a love of nature in his children with whom he shared many outdoor adventures, tales that would fill a book of harrowing experiences related with much laughter on the part of all but Barbara. He took special joy in time spent with his grandchildren, Grady and Hannah, with whom he and Barbara shared many varied and happy days. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Barbara, and his four children, Teresa K. Gurth; Robert J.Gurth, Jr.; Richard M. Gurth; and Tamara A. Gurth-Hammond and son-in-law, Stephen Hammond; two Grandchildren, Grady M. Gurth; Hannah J. Gurth-Palmgren and husband, Drew Palmgren; and one Great Grandaughter, Ainsley Jo Palmgren