Jack Leond Halvorsen

Hello friends,

My grandfather Jack Halvorsen passed away this week. He was one of the smartest and jovial people I have ever met in my life.

He was one of the smartest and jovial people I have ever met in my life. He taught me to love learning for which I give credit to so many of my own ambitions and goals.

His life spanned from homesteading and mining in the wilds of Idaho to being a test pilot in WW2, being a key engineer on creating the Saturn rockets allowing him to be at the Apollo 15 launch, serving two LDS missions in Hawaii including one in his younger days among the leper colony Molokai and then in 1999 at the Polynesian Cultural Center debugging the computers for the Y2K bug.

He was at the forefront of computer and software engineering at Evans & Sutherland and other companies. Installed the first computerized theatrical lighting system in the world. And was crucial in the mathematics behind missile development in WW2 (I have seen the now declassified “top secret” documents to prove it!).

He was a great outdoorsman and climbed many of the great peaks of North America, windsurfed into his 70s, and continued to ride rollercoasters into his 80s. He spent his life helping others, traveling the world, and teaching everyone he touched.

Oh, and the man was so charming he once talked his way, and 6 of us family members, into free admission into Disneyland for the whole evening. Including special viewing for the fireworks and Fantasmic with popcorn. He was then treated like royalty by cast members for the next five days, who made a point to remember him and treat him like a king.

He will be missed, but his influence will be around for generations!
-KAH

Links to learn more about this amazing man:

Radio/Podcast segment

Who has left their fingerprints on your life?: Knowing Grandpa Jack Halvorsen

I had the wonderful opportunity to share the story about my late grandfather’s life on “Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson, ” the radio program i produce. I am so grateful I got to brag about this wonderful man! He has been one of the most influential people in my life and I already miss him dearly. For the podcast version of the radio segment, I got to add even more content from an interview i did with him a few years before he passed. I am humbled and grateful to get to share this with you at this time.

Listen to the podcast at this link.

Knowing Jack Leond Halvorsen: The feeling of flight
My grandfather Jack recently passed away. He was the most amazing and jovial man I have ever known in my life. A few years before his passing I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with him learning about his life as I created this documentary about him for a class. Please enjoy learning about this great man.