Willard C. Meilander

Willard Clifton “Will” Meilander, 99, of Lanier Village Estates, Gainesville, GA and Kent, OH, died November 11, 2018. He was preceded in death by his wife Eleanor Dorothy Zimmer Meilander, his parents, Ida and Henry Meilander, his brother Warren Meilander and his sister Eleanor Lautanen.

He is survived by his four sons: David and wife Ellen Whitlock of Berkeley Lake, GA (Atlanta), Douglas and wife Susan of Baltimore, MD, Richard and wife Catherine of Zanesville, OH, and Robert and wife Ruth of Milwaukee, WI and Sarasota, FL; granddaughters: Karen Yelovich and husband Andrei of Baltimore, MD; Nancy Lin and husband Victor of Gaithersburg, MD; Laura Meilander and husband Christopher Zarate of New York, NY; Jennifer Framularo and husband Nick of Chicago, IL; grandsons: Jeffrey Meilander and wife Manda of Milwaukee, WI and Kevin Meilander and husband Mike Johnson of Minneapolis, MN; great grandchildren: Alex and Stephanie Yelovich, Ellie and Katie Lin, and Roman and Aria Meilander; brother-in-law George Lautanen of Walton Hills, OH (Cleveland) and sister-in-law Mardee Meilander of Barnesville, OH; and a number of nieces and nephews, great nieces and great nephews, and cousins.

Willard was born in Bedford, OH (Cleveland) March 8, 1919, in his grandfather’s house and was baptized 8 days later in the Lutheran Church. At the age of 13, Will met the love of his life, Eleanor Dorothy Zimmer, in Maple Heights, OH (Cleveland) at their elementary school. They were always sweethearts after that meeting and were married in June 1942. Will and Eleanor raised their four sons on farms in Springfield & Randolph, OH (Akron); transitioning later in 1964 to a lakeside home on Twin Lakes in Kent, OH, remaining there until the 2003 move to Lanier Village Estates, Gainesville, GA.

Will was a bright student skipping the 3rd grade in school. And he had an affinity for engineering, building his first radio at age 12. College was always in his plans but before college Will worked many jobs: farming, ice delivery, grocery clerk, radio store clerk, car battery assembly, operating the pitching speed meter for the Cleveland Indians, and assisting a machinist-inventor. He bought his first car in 1937 and in 1942 graduated in two years from Tri-State College (now Trine University) in Angola, IN with a B.S. degree in radio engineering.

In 1942 he entered the U.S. Navy and served until 1945. His various jobs included positions in electronics engineering at the U.S. Naval Research Lab, the Naval Bureau of Ships, and Wright-Patterson A.F. Base. While serving in the U.S. Navy, he and Eleanor traveled to his stateside naval assignments in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Louisiana. Later during WWII, he was also stationed at Adak in the Aleutian Islands.

In 1944, Will and Eleanor started a family in Washington, D.C. and then relocated to Ohio in 1950. The move to Ohio took them to a farm where Will could work the land, something he enjoyed, while also furthering his electronics engineering career. From 1952 through 1983 he was with Goodyear Aerospace Corporation and managed STARAN computing platform applications (the first commercial associative array processor). His work was recognized as one of the top ten engineering achievements in 1971 by the National Society of Professional Engineers. During his time with Goodyear, in addition to receiving 5 awards for inventive processes and 7 patents in the computer field, he served on the U.S. DOT Air Traffic Control Advisory Committee. In 1983 Will retired from Goodyear Aerospace and joined the Kent State University Math Department faculty as an adjunct professor in computer science, instructing graduate classes and as an advisor to PhD candidates.

After his 2003 retirement from Kent State (at age 84), Will and Eleanor moved to Lanier Village Estates (LVE) where he pursued one of his favorite activities: playing bridge. He was an avid bridge player with several LVE groups and his name was often listed as the LVE resident with the highest bridge score for the week.

For more than 50 years, Will and Eleanor were members of Faith Lutheran Church in Kent, OH, and since 2003 members of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gainesville, GA. In Kent Will was a very active servant of the Lord Jesus at Faith Lutheran Church where he served in several leadership positions, taught Sunday School and Bible classes. He and Eleanor also sang in the choir. After moving to LVE, Will strongly supported Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2:00 PM Saturday, January 12, 2019, in the Chapel at Lanier Village Estates, Gainesville, GA, Pastor Zak Hoffman officiating. Family will receive friends after the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the ACTS Lanier Village Estates Samaritan Fund, 4000 Village View Drive, Gainesville, GA 30506; or to Concordia Seminary, Attention Advancement Office, 801 Seminary Place, St. Louis Missouri 63105.