Kemal Satir

Kemal Satir, a Turkish-born electrical engineer and university professor, passed away early Thursday morning (August 11) with his family at his bedside. Mr. Satir, 83, was born in Mut, Turkey on September 3, 1927. He immigrated to North America in 1958 and settled in Washington State in 1960. Since 1991, he resided in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.

From Village Boy to University Graduate to Professional Engineer

Mr. Satir was one of six children born to Seyde Emine (Cicek) and Huseyin Husnu Satir. Until age 11, his family lived in and around Mut, a village of 3,500 people near the Mediterranean coastal town of Silifke. His family moved to Mersin in 1938 where he enrolled in middle school before going on to attend a technical high school in the capital city, Ankara. In 1949, Mr. Satir graduated from Yildiz Technical University (a college in his time) with a Bachelors of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. Shortly thereafter he began his professional career as a power distribution engineer with Etibank, Iron Mining and Village Electrification in the town of Divrigi about 400 miles east of Ankara From 1950 to 1951, he served in the Turkish Army as a Reserve Officer in the engineering branch of the military thereby completing his compulsory military service.

At the urging of an old university friend and his employer, Mr. Satir applied to and received acceptance to graduate school in the United States. In late 1953, he made his way from Ankara to New York City, and from there to Ann Arbor, MI. Upon earning his Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering (1955) from the University of Michigan, Mr. Satir was recruited by Union Switch & Signal Co. in Pittsburgh, PA. He served as associate engineer in charge of managing a Union Switch & Signal contract with the State Railways of the Turkish Republic. A monthly salary of $450 allowed him to rent a modest apartment and put away savings. Then, in 1956, Mr. Satir began making plans to return to Turkey. With the savings from his Pittsburgh engineering position, he purchased a new, blue and white Chevrolet, intent on taking it back to Turkey. Just after the Fourth of July (1956), Mr. Satir set sail on the U.S. Constitution for Istanbul. His '56 Chevy was loaded onto the very same ship on which he sailed home.

Marriage, Family and Immigration to the U.S.

In 1957, Mr. Satir married Gulten Atilla, the daughter of long-time family friends in Mersin, Turkey. Not too long after marrying, the new couple began discussing the possibility of immigrating to North America permanently. Like so many immigrants before him, Mr. Satir wanted a better life for himself, his new wife and soon-to-be born daughter. In 1958 and on his own, Mr. Satir immigrated to Canada, obtained a work visa and shortly thereafter applied for a position with the Saskatchewan Power Corp. in Regina, Canada. Less than a year later, he immigrated to the United States where he began working for Boeing in Renton, WA. In early 1960, his wife, Gulten and daughter, Deniz made their way to Seattle where the family was reunited.

Seasoned Professional, American Citizen, and University Professor

Between 1961 and 1986, Kemal and Gulten Satir lived in Spokane WA where they raised five children. In Spokane, he was chief engineer with Inland Power and Light Company. One of the highlights of his early life in the states was that of becoming a U.S. citizen on April 30, 1965. Starting in 1969, Mr. Satir began a private practice as an electric utility consultant (Electric Power System Planning, Construction and Management). In the interim, he returned to graduate school, earning two additional Masters of Science degrees in Electric Power System Planning and Utility Economics.

He retired from his private practice in 1988 at which time Mr. Satir started his second career as a full-time university professor. In that year, he and Gulten Satir moved to Istanbul where he taught graduate level courses in electrical engineering at his alma mater, Yildiz Technical University, and Bogazici University. He retired from teaching in 1998 and returned to live in the U.S. year round.

Mr. Satir is a life member of the National Society of Professional Engineers; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and Power Engineering Society. Mr. Satir is preceded in death by his father, Huseyin Husnu Satir (d. 1946) and mother, Seyde Emine Satir (d. 1979); his older sister, Emis (d. 1934); his older brother, Mustafa (d. 1923); brother Alaaddin, I (d. 1932); and brother, Alaaddin, II (d. 1934).

Mr. Satir is survived by his wife Gulten of 53 years, his son and daughter-in-law Husnu Kemal Cengiz and Anne Satir; his daughters Deniz Satir and Filiz Satir; his daughter and son-in-law Yasemin and Mark Tedeschi; his daughter and son-in-law Derya and Mark Juhn; and his grandchildren, Alex and Gabi Tedeschi, Ana, Leyla and Vic Satir, and Colin Juhn. He is also survived by his sister and brother-in-law Fatma and Necip Olcay and his niece and nephew Lale and Barbaros Olcay.