Robert N. Vendeland ’48

Bob was born and grew up in Cleveland. He served in the Army from 1942 to 1947 and graduated with high honors from Princeton in September 1947 as an electrical engineering major. As an Army Specialized Training Program student, Bob spent 18 months at Princeton before leaving to fight in World War II, returning afterward for a “12-month sprint” to earn his degree before graduation. In our 50th-reunion book, he noted that because of his speedy undergraduate career, “much of the fondness that many of you feel toward the Class of  ’48 may have escaped me in the process.”

Bob’s nearly 40-year career was in marketing management and the electronics industry. He was a visionary and a pioneer in the early days of broadcast television, commercial cable systems, and sound entertainment. Bob obtained many patents and was credited with many technical innovations.

He died Dec. 18, 2015, in Gig Harbor, Wash., at age 93. Bob had moved there recently to be near family, after spending many years in La Mesa, Calif., after his retirement in 1987.

Bob’s wife, Ellen, died in 2004. He is survived by their son, John, and his wife, Susan; their son, Ralph, and his wife, Gail; his brother, Allan; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.