John Bolt Stephensen

John was born and raised in Fresno, graduated from McLane High School in 1970 and studied electrical engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. John developed his interest in amateur radio and electrical engineering at an early age after discovering his father’s shortwave radio. John pursued these interests as a hobby and a profession throughout his life. He was a gifted engineer and independently designed an early desktop computer in 1972 while working as an electrical technician at MiniCar Corporation in Goleta, CA. He then started one of the first personal computer companies, PolyMorphic Systems, in Goleta with two partners, Brian Wilcox and Richard Petersen, where John was the principal product designer. John later worked as an engineer at CompuCorp in Santa Monica, CA, where he was Director of Systems Engineering. In 1985 he co-founded the ISO-based network-communications company Retix in Santa Monica where he was Vice President of Technology Development. In 1993 John joined another Santa Monica-based computer company, ISOCOR, where he became Vice President for Technology. John returned to Fresno in 2007 where he cared for his mother and started Millenium Radio to develop technology for software-defined radio applications for use on wireless networks. He was working on the technology when he died. John was the author of many technical publications concerning computer, digital radio and related technologies. He was a participant in the development of standards for computer network and internet communication protocols working with industry groups and the U.S. National Institutes of Standards and Technology.

John is survived by his mother, Betty, brother, Charles, sister-in-law, Kim Andrup, niece, Kate, and nephew, Robert.

A celebration of his life will be held at Pardini’s, 2257 West Shaw Avenue, Fresno, at 12 noon on Saturday, August 9.

Donations can be made in John’s name to The Fox Satellite Project (www.amsat.org), Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT-NA), 10605 Concord St, #304, Kensington, MD 20895.