Harvey Anton Ulijohn

He is survived by Karen, his devoted wife of 52 years, and their daughter Dawn Jensen, his son-in-law Dirk, his beloved grandchildren Claire and Cole, and his sister, Hilma Bloomsburg.

Originally, Harvey – enamored of the sea – intended to join the Navy but instead ended up with the 116th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Washington Air National Guard which was part of the 141st Air Defense Group, 25th Air Division of the 5th Air Force. He was transferred to the Air Force Reserve based in Denver to complete his service and earned a promotion to Staff Sergeant, but since he had so little time left was honorably discharged in 1962 as Airman First Class.

Harvey embodied the Rotary Motto of “service above self.” As a young man he served on the Advisory Board for Youth for Christ in the Pacific Northwest, and later as Fremont(Niles) Rotary President. As President of Lincoln Rotary (twice) he sponsored the inaugural Lincoln Wine Fest, and helped maintain the partnership with the Lincoln Community Garden. He is a Paul Harris Fellow and Benefactor.

An avid Ham Radio operator, Harvey’s call sign was KD6LND. He joined the local amateur radio clubs in Fremont and in Lincoln, and combed the Bay Area flea markets to find his prized Hallicrafters receivers and constructed his own antennas, some of which worked better than others. He loved to build models – airplanes, helicopters, boats – and expanded this love to rebuild a 14’ boat and then a 1966 Sunbeam Alpine which he drove with pride in the Fremont Fourth of July Parade.

Professionally, Harvey had a storied career that took him from repairing typewriters to the cutting-edge world of computer technology, specifically data collection, storage, encryption and retrieval. Harvey was given the opportunity to go to London, England to set up European distribution channels for Tally Corporation products. From there, Harvey created his own Manufacturer’s Rep company – Pragma Associates - and an extensive network across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He met Karen in London, and together they spent 23 years living there and exploring Europe.

Harvey adored his wife Karen; nothing gave him greater pride or pleasure than listening to her sing or play the piano. He and Dawn spent countless hours in cold cathedrals while Karen performed Handel’s Messiah or Elgar’s Sea Pictures. He was her biggest fan. He treasured his daughter, Dawn, and honored her by calling her his friend as well as his kid. He taught her sarcasm and then bemoaned that the student had outstripped the master. He greatly admired and respected his son-in-law, Dirk, and was gratified to have someone who would have his back when Karen and Dawn would team up against him. He delighted in “Grampa Wednesdays” where he’d pick up Claire and Cole once a week and take them to parks and museums and every ice cream store within a 5 mile radius. They fondly reminisce about “whippawhompa sticks” and the Lion park and looking at construction site holes to figure out what they were building and how Grampa made every outing seem an adventure.

In his own words, “I have no regrets. I made the decisions I did for the reasons I did, and the end result has been a colorful, interesting, and wonderful life. I am extremely proud of what I accomplished on my own. I provided rather generously for my family, performed well for my employers, built a business of my own, gained a significant professional reputation, met hundreds of interesting people and did hundreds of interesting things. I have been in all 50 states, 36 countries, and circled the world. I’ve been to famous places and talked to famous people and had marvelous experiences in dozens of countries.”

We will miss him with all our hearts for the rest of our lives, but we are grateful for the time we had with him and for all we learned from him. The world was richer for his presence in it.

A celebration of life will be held at Lincoln Hills Community Church, located on Joiner Parkway, on Saturday, June 16th at 2pm with a reception to follow at the Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Lincoln Rotary Foundation ( https://portal.clubrunner.ca/3063 ).