David Charles Anding

David was born September 14, 1935 at home in Inkster, Michigan. He was the 4th of 5 children. His parents were barely surviving from the great depression, living in a home with one bedroom, a well, and an outside toilet. The good news was his dad was working at a subsidiary of Ford Motor and they all had a roof over their heads and 3 good meals a day. Things were looking up.
David got his first job when 12 as a "paper boy, a name of the past. He then moved on to grocery clerk, light auto mechanic, body shop, auto detailer, and rough framing carpenter as he progressed through high school. Spending so much time working David had little time for sports, but did manage a little time for golf, tennis, water skiing, and hunting.
He was the second to attend college at Michigan State Normal, having saved enough to pay for one year for the astounding price of $500, including room and board. Having run out of money he volunteered for the draft in 1954 and did his army tour, fortunately during peacetime. He returned to college at University of Michigan and graduated from Electrical Engineering School in 1962.
He found the love of his life in 1960, Jeanne Cassell, and they were married August 19, 1961 at Saint Patrick's Catholic Church in Honolulu. A little over a year later they had their first son Eric. After graduation David took a position at Hawaiian Electric Co in Honolulu, Jeanne's home, and spent two wonderful years working and spending time with Jeanne's Mom, Dad, brother John and sister Nancy.
In 1964 David returned to Michigan to attend graduate School and focused on atmospheric physics, specializing in molecular spectroscopy. During that time he worked at Willow Run Laboratories and developed algorithms for use by NASA in infrared sensor systems directed toward satellite measurement of sea surface temperature, and for use by the Defense Department in heat seeking terminal homing missiles.
During his stay at Michigan, where he also taught special classes in atmospheric physics, two daughters were brought into the world, Amy in 1968 and Alison in 1971. David's primary recreation during this time was golf and tournament bridge during which he became a Life Master player.
In 1972 David joined Science Applications Inc. and became a defense contractor and continued his work in research related to design, development, test and evaluation of Infrared Sensor Systems. In 1977 David and three others formed their own company, Photon Research Associates, to pursue the same technology. Their work there contributed to the Regan Star Wars Program. In 1995 David formed his own company, Photon Simulations, a subsidiary of the parent company. From that time until his retirement in 2002, he developed the software drivers for "heads up displays" in training simulators for aircraft and other military vehicles. This software was sold to the UK, France, Israel, and aerospace companies in the US and Japan. David had the opportunity to travel to these wonderful places and guess who was attached like a tether the entire way?
During David's retirement he did play much golf, became an avid skier where he and family met so many wonderful ski friends, and played in many bridge tournaments with good success while reaching Gold Life Master status, and received much joy in teaching bridge to many.
David passed away on May 27, 2025 from leukemia. He is survived by his wife Jeanne of 64 years, three children, Eric Anding (Melissa), Amy McClure (Chris) and Alison Perdigao (Mike), eight grandchildren, Hayden, Matthew, Ryan, Joshua, Luke, Pryce, Ryder and Easton, 2 great grandchildren, Zoey and Ozzy and his younger sister, Linda Buckley.
Memorial Mass will be held at San Rafael Parish in Rancho Bernardo on June 19 at 1pm. Reception to follow at the Anding home.
Donations graciously accepted to Father Joe's Villages https://my.neighbor.org/ or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital www.stjude.org