Richard Janssen began his career as a professor at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Soon after he became one of the first employees of the "no such agency" (that became NSA) in Washington, DC, where he was a mathematician working on cryptography/cryptoanalysis , otherwise known as code breaking. At that time there was only a trailer office outside of DC, where this work took place in top secrecy. He was also a lead mathematician for the development and testing of modern weapons in Utah. For the last and longest part of his career he was a highly respected and productive Senior Operations Research Analyst at NORAD - Air Force Space Command. He was responsible for performance analysis and recommendations for the Ballistic Early Warning Radar at Fylingsdale, England. He was an active member of First Methodist Church, participated in the Men's International Bible Study, and in the Walk to Emmaus. He was an Eagle Scout and later volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America. He loved traveling, camping, hiking, going to the YMCA and making many friendships through the years.
He is survived by his loving wife of 71 years, Shirley, his son Terry of Honolulu, Hawaii, his daughter, Deborah Palmer and her husband, Greg of Allentown, PA and his son, James and his wife, Gail of Templeton, CA, his grandchildren, Kerry, Amy, Stephen and his wife Mirea, and Christopher and also four great grand children, Tyler, Bella, Kaya and Aina, and his brother, David Janssen.
