Vernon Stanley Mummert

1938 - 2022

Vernon Stanley Mummert, cherished husband of Carol and father of Eric and Marc, passed away on April 6, 2022, surrounded by his family at HCA Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce, Fla.

A native of Brutus, Michigan, born July 1938, Vern received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering and an M.S.E. in instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan, where he became a lifelong Wolverines fan. He went on to obtain a master's degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from MIT.

His career at Bellcomm Inc., a subsidiary of AT&T in Washington, D.C., formed to work with NASA, included planning the trajectory for the Apollo 11 space flight of July 16 through July 24, 1969, the first crewed mission to land on the moon. While at Bellcomm, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University.

Having met at Bellcomm, Vern and Carol married in 1969 and transferred to Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, N.J., where Vern led engineering teams working in telephone network management, network planning and international telecommunications. He led the invention of a traffic routing scheme that dramatically decreased network costs and positioned AT&T to deliver new services. After retiring in 1995, he worked as a consultant for NCR.

Vern was a voracious reader, history buff and lover of Broadway plays as well as his wife's classical music choral performances and his sons' school musicals. He enjoyed international travel with his wife and sons. They spent many happy years in Holmdel before relocating to Florida in 2018.

Vern is survived by Carol, his wife of 52 years; son, Eric, of Riverside, Calif.; son, Marc, his wife, Nadine, and their three children, of Vista, Calif.; brother, Arnold and his wife, Allison, of Traverse City, Mich.; brother, Dewey and his wife, Sandra, of Traverse City, Mich.; as well as many nieces and nephews.

A memorial Mass, to be celebrated by the Rev. Msgr. Thomas V. Banick, and family gathering will be held in Vista, Calif., to celebrate Vern's life.