John Wallen Gaylord

John Wallen Gaylord

AGE: 84 • Sea Grit

John W. Gaylord, of Sea Girt, NJ and Austin, TX, passed away August 28th at his house in Sea Girt, on his 58th wedding anniversary to his wife Joan. He died peacefully in his sleep from complications relating to Parkinson's disease. John was an exceptional man who was known in the community for his intelligence, generosity, wit, and positive attitude throughout his life. He never let any of his personal struggles affect the kindness with which he treated other people. John was born in Santa Monica, California, on July 19th, 1929 to Warner and Marjorie Wallen Gaylord. He grew up primarily in Louisville, Kentucky, where he graduated high school at the top of his class. He then went on to MIT and received his BS and Master's Degree in nuclear physics. He had a distinguished career as a research scientist working for RCA at the David Sarnoff Labs in Princeton, NJ. He continued his research work in semiconductors & electron microscopy as a consultant for the German company, Siemens, in Princeton, NJ and at SEMATECH Consortium in Austin, TX. During his career, John received over 25 US patents, published a book Factory Information Systems and authored many scientific articles. He was also involved in joint academic-industry projects at a number of universities. John had many interests outside of work. He loved the outdoors and frequently went backpacking and canoeing with his children when they were younger. He once walked across England on the Coast to Coast Walk: The Irish Sea to the North Sea, as well as the Appalachian Trail. He was an accomplished woodworker and sometimes worked with local artists. Some of their collaborations were shown in the Whitney Museum in New York. He loved his "shop" and also tennis and photography. He was also a member of the Capital Area Parkinson's Society and The MIT Club of Princeton.

John is survived by his wife Joan (Pindar) Gaylord; his son Jack, Baltimore, MD, and children Jeffrey and Jennifer; his daughter Susan Rodder, Dallas, TX, son-in-law Mark Rodder, and children Michael, Matthew, Megan. John is predeceased by his daughter Deborah, and surviving are her husband Eduardo Gentil, children Alexander, Thomas, and Philip of San Paulo, Brazil, and sister-in-law Carol Ann Pindar, Philadelphia, PA.

The family is grateful to Dr. J. Schmidt of Belmar, his devoted caregivers Ellen Acciavatti, Charlie Davison, Michelle Giuffre, Clara Booth, and Diane Castro, as well as his physical therapist Brian Love.

John was a patient as well as a participant in Parkinson's research with the Movement Disorders Center at Penn Medicine Neuroscience Center for the last 10 years. His final gift was the donation of his brain and spinal cord for their research. In his memory, the family asks if you so wish to donate to The Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center, 330 South 9th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

Private services were held at St. Uriel's Episcopal Church in Sea Girt, NJ. For more information and to send condolences, visit www.obrienfuneralhome.com.