Glen Chester Young

1937-2023

It is with great sadness, but even greater joy in celebrating Glen Chester Young’s eternal life in which he lived modest, quiet and warm ready to move on with no fanfare. Glen was a Colorado native born to Reverend Chester and M. Dee Young on August 27, 1937, and greeted by Donald, Lola, Ralph and Allen. He grew up playing in the Rocky Mountain foothills in Cold Creek Canyon and Littleton, CO. He gained an appreciation of classical music, listening to his brother, Allen, play the piano and learned about cars at Ralph’s filling station. While attending Littleton High School, he played the clarinet and enjoyed listening to his mother’s rehearsals as choir director and attended the Littleton Baptist Church, where his father was the pastor.

He attended Littleton High School, graduating in 1955 and began training in electrical engineering at Colorado State University in the fall of 1956. He paid for his schooling by working 4.5 hours every night doing small parts factory work. He married Janice Bauer in 1960, which is when she took over financially supporting them as he completed one more year of college. He graduated from CSU with high distinction. After a short assignment with GE Computer Dept in Phoenix, where Craig was born (1961), he went into active duty as an officer with the Army Signal Corps in Ft Monmouth, NJ. He ended his active duty as a training company commanding officer in 1963.

Glen returned to GE on a rotating assignment program at Hotpoint in Chicago, where Dawn was born (1964), then another relocation to Danville, IL. This led to his first permanent GE job assignment in Ft Wayne, IN in 1965.

During the recession of 1974-75, Glen was laid off from GE, which is when he got a job with Essex Controls (part of United Technologies) in Logansport, IN. He worked as an engineering manager for microwave oven controls. The Amana microwave ovens were one of the first with touchmatic controls that are now the standard for all appliances (prior to pressing on a flat interface, there were mechanical dials, switches and buttons). After a year and half in Logansport, IN, where the family had enjoyed a home at the top of a wooded ridge, near a lake and surrounded by Indiana farmland and endearing friendships, the home burned to the ground. Yet, the loss of the home (no one injured) eased the family’s need to transition back to Ft. Wayne as Glen had encouraged the Essex management to move the operations to a larger city, where they would be able to hire and retain engineering staff. Thus, Essex relocated, and the Young family moved back to Ft. Wayne, IN.

In February of 1982, he rejoined General Electric. At that time, the GE Motors Division had begun the commercialization of electronically commutated motors (ECM). These are high efficiency motors that employ a permanent magnet to control the motor operation. These GE designed motors now dominate the market for high efficiency heating and cooling forced air applications. For his 50th High School Reunion, Glen wrote, “In all my jobs, I have had the joy of creating original solutions using the newest technology. Because of these opportunities, I have acquired 15 patents.” He also respected and treasured his fellow engineers such that lunch with colleagues was an equally important part of his day.

The 1990s, began the years of seeing his children grown and get married. Craig married Marjorie Huang (1990) and Krysta and Jonathan blessed his life, as the family remained in Ft. Wayne, IN. Dawn married Ralph Whetstine (1999) and they lived in Illinois, coming to visit on holidays. Having grandchildren was another joyful time, attending their many church, education and theatre events; and, let’s face it, children make life celebrations and holidays come alive again.

Speaking of their highlights of their father, Craig said, “Watching him enjoy classical music had me enjoy it, too; and, when he complimented me on my ability to sing the Messiah Medley, I felt truly affirmed. He didn’t say a lot, so his words meant a lot and had a big impact.” Dawn’s thoughts are: “I feel he trained me from a really young age to listen and begin to formulate big ideas in my mind. He seemed mysteriously, all knowing, and his laugh made me feel that everything was good (accept when it felt like he was laughing at me). One thing is for sure, I know I was/am loved.”

Other accomplishments through the years: Glen was an Elder at Calvary Presbyterian Church and later attended First Missionary Church, enjoying the Sunday School class and the birthday party group. He felt satisfaction in being a stand-in dad to 12 foreign exchange students. He served as a treasurer for Calvary Pres, The Fox Island Alliance and the Lakes of Liberty Neighborhood Association.

While all along, computers, tracking finances and solving problems were an important part of who he was. He was never one to buy a software program, if he could design it himself. Quicken? QuickBooks? No! Glen designed his own computer programs that accepted the bank’s export files into his own tracking methods. And, just for kicks, he wrote a computer program that provided solutions to the triangle-woodblock and golf tee game (you see at Cracker Barrel), and he wrote another program that would calculate Sudoku solutions. While sitting with woodblock games and Sudoko was never really his thing, in his earlier years, Chess and Go were games that he would sit down to several hours of competitive jousting with a group of men who got together monthly.

In 2009, he designed the home his home for retirement, by using basic 3D software of the time. Janice said, “Even though I couldn’t fully understand his designs, I trusted him. While one thing I noticed in the design and said to him, ‘I don’t want a square kitchen.’ Glen got mad at me, but then he figured it out and I love my kitchen and my home. It truly was designed just for us… to welcome in our adult children, grandchildren, exchange students and friends”.

He completed his retirement years with a variety of focuses: We got in the travel to Europe, Canada, Cozumel and a couple cruises. He also volunteered at the Ft Wayne Library (fixing tape recorders for the blind); being treasurer for the various organizations. He returned for five years of consulting work with Regal Beloit, then kept up with engineer friends by meeting them for lunch. Reading and watching TV in his man cave was another big pastime and he kept up with the lawn and snow right through much of his illness (to age 84).

In August of 2020, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and went through radiation treatment. Meanwhile, Parkinson’s was taking its toll and we have missed him for much longer than his date of passing on September 7, 2023.

Born August 27, 1937, Glen is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Janice A. Young of Fort Wayne, IN; son, Craig (Marjorie) Young of Fort Wayne, IN; daughter, Dawn Whetstine of Oak Park, IL; grandchildren, Krysta Young of MA; Jonathan Young of Fort Wayne, IN; sister-in-law Sammi Young of Littleton, CO. He was preceded in death by his father and mother, Rev. Chester and Minnie Dee (West) Young, sister, Lola Jones, and brothers, Donald, Ralph, and Allen Young.

Rest in Peace, ‘Babee’, Dad, Grandpa, Glen.

Funeral service will be 11:00 am Saturday, September 16, 2023, at First Missionary Church 701 W. Rudisill Blvd Fort Wayne, IN with visitation one hour prior. Visitation also from 5-7 pm Friday, September 15, 2023, at D.O. McComb and Sons Covington Knolls Funeral Home 8325 Covington Road Fort Wayne, IN. Burial in Lindenwood Cemetery. Memorials may be made to First Missionary Church. To sign the online guestbook, go to www.mccombandsons.com