Victor L. Yen

Victor Yen passed away January 13, 2012. He was 73 years old. Victor was born in Mexico City. His father was ambassador to the Republic of China for 35 years, serving in the Phillipines, Mexico, Thailand, Taiwan, and Venezuela. The family immigrated to the US, where Victor was naturalized as a citizen. He received a BS in Engineering from the University of Redlands and a MS in Aeronautical Engineering one year later from Cal Tech. Victor taught Engineering at Tri-State College in Indiana, then worked as a process engineer at Ford in Michigan, before moving with his wife and son to California. He spent 40 years pioneering the use of infrared components. As Marketing Manager at OCLI in Santa Rosa, he wrote the "Infrared Handbook" an industry standard which is still in use today. As Senior Vice President of Optoelectronics in Petaluma, he spread the application of infrared detectors across multiple industries. Victor was a marketing consultant for Cal Sensors before co-founding Electro Optical Components in Santa Rosa. He managed EOC's growth as a key specialty distributor, leading to the overwhelming success of several international principals in the US/North American market, before retiring in 2007. A soccer devotee, Victor was named All-State after playing for Redlands, and began Tri-State College's soccer program as a player/coach. He helped start the youth soccer program in Northern California, working to administrate the league, coaching, and officiating. He was one of only a handful of Northern California referees certified by FIFA at the time. He is survived by his wife, son, and two grandsons in Northern California, and by one brother and one sister in Southern California. There will be a reception Saturday, February 25 at the Santa Rosa Hilton Garden Inn from 7-10pm. His wife asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent toward the purchase of a bulletproof vest for Windsor Police K-9 dog "Cougar" (send donations In Care of Sheriff's Dept. of Sonoma County, 2796 Ventura Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95403).