ET1
US NAVY
KOREA
Richard Olin Pea
Richard Olin Pea Died in San Jose, CA on May 18, 2009, Richard Olin Pea Richard Pea was born in Sayre, Beckham County, Oklahoma, February 6, 1925, the seventh child of nine children, to the late Harley Halsted and Jessie Opal [Crawford] Pea. The family moved to California during the dust bowl migration of the early thirties. In 1943, he took early graduation from Chowchilla High School in the San Joaquin Valley, to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he served until the end of WWII, on Baker Island in the South Pacific, as a Coast Guard Communicator. Returning home, he began studies at (then) San Jose State College (now San Jose State University). As the situation in Korea began to heat up, he joined the Naval Reserves. As a communicator, he was immediately called to active duty, serving aboard a Navy ship off the Korean coast. After graduating from SJSC, as an Electrical Engineer in 1954, he was employed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Ames Research Center, Mt. View, CA until his retirement in 1989. One of Richard's greatest personal achievements is a nuclear power supply he designed in three weeks for the Pioneer 10 mission. It launched in March of 1972, reached a top speed of 82,000 mph as it passed Jupiter in 1973 and is the first space probe to leave our solar system in 1983. As a Philanthropist, he has left his real properties to his alma mater(s), Chowchilla High School District and San Jose State University. Having no children of his own, he has also set up a trust fund to assist the education of his parent's heirs. He is survived by a brother, Charley Wilson Pea, of Shelby MS, and a sister, Mary Ellen Pea, of North Kingstown, RI. He was predeceased by four sisters: the late Mrs Irma Creedy and Mrs Ruth Petersen of Wisconsin; Mrs Rose Pebley, of Oregon, and Cleoma Axtell of California; and two brothers, Thomas Crawford of Arizona and Harley Boone Pea of California. His best friend for over 45 years was Sal Rositano, a co-worker at Ames Research, who served as primary care giver for this blind veteran. Funeral service will be held at Oak Hill Funeral Home, Drawing Room Chapel, on Saturday May 30 at 1:30 p.m. Burial/Graveside Service will be Monday June 1, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon California to honor his Veteran status.
Published in San Jose Mercury News on May 27, 2009
US NAVY
KOREA
Richard Olin Pea
Richard Olin Pea Died in San Jose, CA on May 18, 2009, Richard Olin Pea Richard Pea was born in Sayre, Beckham County, Oklahoma, February 6, 1925, the seventh child of nine children, to the late Harley Halsted and Jessie Opal [Crawford] Pea. The family moved to California during the dust bowl migration of the early thirties. In 1943, he took early graduation from Chowchilla High School in the San Joaquin Valley, to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he served until the end of WWII, on Baker Island in the South Pacific, as a Coast Guard Communicator. Returning home, he began studies at (then) San Jose State College (now San Jose State University). As the situation in Korea began to heat up, he joined the Naval Reserves. As a communicator, he was immediately called to active duty, serving aboard a Navy ship off the Korean coast. After graduating from SJSC, as an Electrical Engineer in 1954, he was employed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Ames Research Center, Mt. View, CA until his retirement in 1989. One of Richard's greatest personal achievements is a nuclear power supply he designed in three weeks for the Pioneer 10 mission. It launched in March of 1972, reached a top speed of 82,000 mph as it passed Jupiter in 1973 and is the first space probe to leave our solar system in 1983. As a Philanthropist, he has left his real properties to his alma mater(s), Chowchilla High School District and San Jose State University. Having no children of his own, he has also set up a trust fund to assist the education of his parent's heirs. He is survived by a brother, Charley Wilson Pea, of Shelby MS, and a sister, Mary Ellen Pea, of North Kingstown, RI. He was predeceased by four sisters: the late Mrs Irma Creedy and Mrs Ruth Petersen of Wisconsin; Mrs Rose Pebley, of Oregon, and Cleoma Axtell of California; and two brothers, Thomas Crawford of Arizona and Harley Boone Pea of California. His best friend for over 45 years was Sal Rositano, a co-worker at Ames Research, who served as primary care giver for this blind veteran. Funeral service will be held at Oak Hill Funeral Home, Drawing Room Chapel, on Saturday May 30 at 1:30 p.m. Burial/Graveside Service will be Monday June 1, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon California to honor his Veteran status.
Published in San Jose Mercury News on May 27, 2009
ET1
US NAVY
KOREA
Richard Olin Pea
Richard Olin Pea Died in San Jose, CA on May 18, 2009, Richard Olin Pea Richard Pea was born in Sayre, Beckham County, Oklahoma, February 6, 1925, the seventh child of nine children, to the late Harley Halsted and Jessie Opal [Crawford] Pea. The family moved to California during the dust bowl migration of the early thirties. In 1943, he took early graduation from Chowchilla High School in the San Joaquin Valley, to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he served until the end of WWII, on Baker Island in the South Pacific, as a Coast Guard Communicator. Returning home, he began studies at (then) San Jose State College (now San Jose State University). As the situation in Korea began to heat up, he joined the Naval Reserves. As a communicator, he was immediately called to active duty, serving aboard a Navy ship off the Korean coast. After graduating from SJSC, as an Electrical Engineer in 1954, he was employed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Ames Research Center, Mt. View, CA until his retirement in 1989. One of Richard's greatest personal achievements is a nuclear power supply he designed in three weeks for the Pioneer 10 mission. It launched in March of 1972, reached a top speed of 82,000 mph as it passed Jupiter in 1973 and is the first space probe to leave our solar system in 1983. As a Philanthropist, he has left his real properties to his alma mater(s), Chowchilla High School District and San Jose State University. Having no children of his own, he has also set up a trust fund to assist the education of his parent's heirs. He is survived by a brother, Charley Wilson Pea, of Shelby MS, and a sister, Mary Ellen Pea, of North Kingstown, RI. He was predeceased by four sisters: the late Mrs Irma Creedy and Mrs Ruth Petersen of Wisconsin; Mrs Rose Pebley, of Oregon, and Cleoma Axtell of California; and two brothers, Thomas Crawford of Arizona and Harley Boone Pea of California. His best friend for over 45 years was Sal Rositano, a co-worker at Ames Research, who served as primary care giver for this blind veteran. Funeral service will be held at Oak Hill Funeral Home, Drawing Room Chapel, on Saturday May 30 at 1:30 p.m. Burial/Graveside Service will be Monday June 1, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon California to honor his Veteran status.
Published in San Jose Mercury News on May 27, 2009
US NAVY
KOREA
Richard Olin Pea
Richard Olin Pea Died in San Jose, CA on May 18, 2009, Richard Olin Pea Richard Pea was born in Sayre, Beckham County, Oklahoma, February 6, 1925, the seventh child of nine children, to the late Harley Halsted and Jessie Opal [Crawford] Pea. The family moved to California during the dust bowl migration of the early thirties. In 1943, he took early graduation from Chowchilla High School in the San Joaquin Valley, to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he served until the end of WWII, on Baker Island in the South Pacific, as a Coast Guard Communicator. Returning home, he began studies at (then) San Jose State College (now San Jose State University). As the situation in Korea began to heat up, he joined the Naval Reserves. As a communicator, he was immediately called to active duty, serving aboard a Navy ship off the Korean coast. After graduating from SJSC, as an Electrical Engineer in 1954, he was employed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Ames Research Center, Mt. View, CA until his retirement in 1989. One of Richard's greatest personal achievements is a nuclear power supply he designed in three weeks for the Pioneer 10 mission. It launched in March of 1972, reached a top speed of 82,000 mph as it passed Jupiter in 1973 and is the first space probe to leave our solar system in 1983. As a Philanthropist, he has left his real properties to his alma mater(s), Chowchilla High School District and San Jose State University. Having no children of his own, he has also set up a trust fund to assist the education of his parent's heirs. He is survived by a brother, Charley Wilson Pea, of Shelby MS, and a sister, Mary Ellen Pea, of North Kingstown, RI. He was predeceased by four sisters: the late Mrs Irma Creedy and Mrs Ruth Petersen of Wisconsin; Mrs Rose Pebley, of Oregon, and Cleoma Axtell of California; and two brothers, Thomas Crawford of Arizona and Harley Boone Pea of California. His best friend for over 45 years was Sal Rositano, a co-worker at Ames Research, who served as primary care giver for this blind veteran. Funeral service will be held at Oak Hill Funeral Home, Drawing Room Chapel, on Saturday May 30 at 1:30 p.m. Burial/Graveside Service will be Monday June 1, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon California to honor his Veteran status.
Published in San Jose Mercury News on May 27, 2009
