Vernon Abild

Vernon L. Abild was born on July 20th, 1927, at 9:00 am in Pleasant Valley Township, Clay County, South Dakota to Rudolph and Ida (Lovejoy) Abild. His arrival was assisted by his father’s sister, Dr. Isabel Abild. 

When he was 2 ½ years old, his father died, leaving management of the family row crop and feeding operation in the hands of his mother, older siblings, and extended family who were award-winning agronomists. 

He attended the local one-room school, Pleasant Dell District 19 through 8th grade, then boarded nearby at the Augustana Academy, completing his high school there because he wanted to take more advanced classes. 

In 1945 he enlisted in the Navy and served as a Fireman First Class on the USS Saugus, which was preparing to support the invasion of the Japanese home islands, and eventually ferried many returning troops home. After his discharge, and while studying electrical engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines, he worked summers on rural electrification. 

Upon graduation from Mines, he obtained a job at Boeing, and he moved to Washington State. During his long career at Boeing, he worked on a variety of military and civilian projects, including Bomarc, Minuteman, and Gromit in the Aerospace Division. In addition, he also worked on the 747, 757, and 767 in the Airplane Division, specializing in the design of the electrical systems which made modern air cargo handling possible, and thereby provided the business basis for today’s jumbo jets. He earned two patents for improving cargo door safety systems on commercial aircraft. 

In October of 1957 he met his future wife, Patricia Hutchison, a special education teacher in the Edmonds School District. He met Patricia at the Skandia Folkdance Society in Seattle, and once he saw her, he went up and asked if he could dance with her on the next couples dance. She agreed, and they enjoyed a fun evening of dancing, with walking to a nearby ice cream shop afterwards, where he asked for her phone number. They married on August 20th, 1968 and enjoyed dancing, hiking, skiing, traveling, gardening, and general companionship. On February 12, 1977 they adopted their son, Rocky.

In his spare time, Vernon enjoyed hunting, wilderness packing, horses, crosswords, and socializing. Vernon was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Inman and Marion, and his sister, Stella Berniece and his wife Patricia. He is survived by his son, Rocky, and Rocky’s wife Camille, and his three grandchildren, Gavin, Gabrielle, and Anabella.