Bernard Yurash

Untitled

Bernard Yurash

Silicon Valley pioneer and chemist, died January 25th in Fort Collins Colorado where he and his wife Irene were being cared for by their son Stephen. Bernard worked for Fairchild Semiconductor from 1958 to 1984. He ran the chemical analysis lab at the Fairchild R & D facility on Miranda Avenue in Palo Alto where he was instrumental in isolating the sources of very small amounts of the free sodium ions that contaminated transistors.This work led to the use of pure quartz to hold the wafers during processing instead of Pyrex, and resulted in producing improved bipolar transistors and the first commercially viable and high yielding MOS transistors. Bernard and Irene were both born in Passaic New Jersey and they spent five years on the island of Aruba and in Venezuela while Bernard was employed in the oil industry before coming to Palo Alto and joining Fairchild where he became friends with Gordon Moore and Bob Noyce. Bernard was a remote control model airplane enthusiast throughout his life.He is survived by his wife Irene, his sons Gregory of Sunnyvale, James of Mountain View, Stephen of Fort Collins Colorado and daughter Susan Close of Clover South Carolina and their families.A Memorial Service is planned for Bernard at Lima Family Sunnyvale Mortuary, 1315 Hollenbeck at 10:00 a.m. on April 21st. Anyone who knew Bernard is welcome to attend. For more information call (408) 245-3225.