David A. Salminen

Died November 1st, 2017 in St. Paul, MN.

Dave is survived by his wife, Claire Jalbert and brother, Russell Salminen.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Andrew Salminen and his sister, Leslie Salminen.

Dave was born and grew up in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. He attended high school at the Donora Campus of Ringgold High School (PA). Dave graduated in 1983 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and was hired by Pratt and Whitney when he graduated. He spent his entire career there doing what he loved, developing commercial jet engine control systems (including control software design, test and integration) as well as covering flight testing of the Boeing 777 and other customer facilities around the world. He completed his career as a Staff Engineer, Software Engineering, Engine Systems Software. Dave always enjoyed the technical challenges he solved (and those he didn’t) as well as helping and mentoring his colleagues. He was extremely well respected for his extensive knowledge, intuition and ingenuity. Everyone enjoyed working with Dave, for his brilliance, but also for his willingness to help and to pass on his knowledge.

Dave was a gentle, intelligent soul with an amazingly sharp wit. He loved his family and friends. Most of all he loved Claire. Claire and Dave met in their first year at MIT as suite-mates and have been together ever since. Dave split his time between Connecticut (work) and St. Paul (Claire) in the last few years. He enjoyed crossword puzzles, science fiction, trivia, golf, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

All donations can be made to Monongahela Area Library (in memory of David Salminen), 813 W. Main St., Monongahela, PA 15063.

A gathering will be held on Monday, November 6 from 4-7pm at the Wulff Woodbury Funeral Home, 2195 Woodlane Drive, Woodbury, MN 55125.