Fred Gurzi
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Fred's obituary
Fred Gurzi, a U.S. Navy Veteran, professional electronics engineer, mechanical engineering enthusiast, and loving husband and father of two daughters, passed away at home in Signal Hill, CA at the age of 95.
Fred was in the loving company of his wife, Karyl, his youngest daughter Terisa, and two of Terisa's friends from Northern California who recently had relocated to the house in Signal Hill.
Fred was born in Erie Pennsylvania, the oldest of four children, at the onset of the Great Depression. He joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 17 and was stationed in communist China. He met his wife Karyl of upstate New York in Vernon, California. They were married in Rochester, New York and stayed married for more than five decades, until they parted at death.
Karyl survived her husband by just 5 days. She passed away at home in hospice care on August 2nd 2023.
Fred and Karyl are survived by their two daughters, Evelyn, age 59 of Redwood City, CA and Terisa, age 57, of Milpitas, CA.
Fred is predeceased in death by his parents Dominic and Camille Gurzi, who immigrated to the United States from Italy and Sicily. Dominic was a shoemaker by trade, who enjoyed gardening at home. Camille was a wonderful cook. They most recently lived on East 3rd Street in Long Beach, where Dominic maintained a beautiful rose garden. They very much enjoyed spending time with their grandchildren, and often would take them to Knott's Berry Farm.
Fred is also predeceased in death by his younger brother Michael of Hemet, CA. He is survived by Michael's wife Chic, now residing in Chicago, and by Mike and Chic's two daughters, Debbie and Lisa. Fred is survived by two nieces on his wife's side, Julie of Scottsdale Arizona, and Cathy, now married, and residing in Oregon.
He is also survived by his sister Katherine, a retired Kenya Missionary, and his youngest brother, William, a Long Beach radio and television personality.
Fred first met his wife Karyl under under professional circumstances in Vernon, CA, where Fred was employed as an electrical engineer and Karyl was working as a computer programmer. They had a relatively long courtship of just over two years.
They had their first daughter, Evelyn, in Los Angeles, CA in 1966 and then relocated to San Leandro in Northern CA. Their second daughter, Terisa, was born at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View in 1968.
Fred and Karyl purchased their first home in Los Altos Hills, CA. Almost three years later they moved to Los Altos proper, partly because Cupertino Union was known as one of the best school districts in California.
Fred invented the schematics for the mainframe computer, long before IBM had patented the colossal machine. The IBM mainframe remains operational in finance industries; it is known for it's unmatched level of stability for critical systems, high security data protection standards and the ability to operate at 100% utilization.
Fred developed a helium detector with Applied Electrochemistry in Sunnyvale in the early 1980s. The helium detector would alert engineers to places underground where phone cables were broken.
Karyl worked for Singer Link Division in Sunnyvale, programming flight simulators for U.S. pilots under government contracts with NASA and McDonnell Douglas. She later went to work for British Petroleum (BP) and perfected automation software for Signal Hill oil drilling equipment, as a systems analyst.
Evelyn and Terisa both attended Homestead High School and San Jose State University. Terisa excelled in the areas of mathematics and statistics, and most recently was employed with a law firm in Palo Alto, CA (formerly) and Redwood City, CA.
Evelyn earned a BA Degree in Journalism, Radio and Television Emphasis, and relocated to South Texas, followed by Bakersfield, CA and San Jose, CA, in the early to mid- 1990s. She was employed with NBC and CBS network affiliates as a reporter and nightly news anchor. She later pursued entrepreneurial opportunities as a real estate broker and in the retail consignment industry.
Having grown up in the Great Depression and later having watched his mother suffer from osteoporosis, Fred stressed to his daughters the importance of taking vitamins and nutritional supplements including calcium, the importance of a good education, and a mandatory emergency survival skill of saving money, and putting away at least 10% of every paycheck.
Fred invested money cautiously and planned ahead carefully for family vacations. His most self indulgent purchase was a 1965 convertible Corvette Stingray that he bought before he was married. He was skilled at engine diagnostics and repair, and performed his own car maintenance.
Fred could fix anything that he cared to take the time to look at including automobiles, the washing machine, the dishwasher, older clocks and mainspring wrist watches; and after he retired from engineering, the repairing of vacuum tube car radios became his home-based small business and new hobby.
He enjoyed working for classic car owners and collectors who wanted to keep everything in the automobile original.
Fred's favorite vacation spots were Kawaii, Hawaii; Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Ensenada, Mexico; Pajaro Dunes near Watsonville, Northern CA ; Balboa Island near Newport Beach; and Reno, NV. He enjoyed the winter weather in Reno, snowmobiling, and gambling on the game of Craps
In 1998, Fred and Karyl relocated to Signal Hill after BP closed its San Jose operations. Signal Hill was founded on the discovery of oil in the area, in 1919. Today, it is known for panoramic views that have become national tourist attractions.
Fred's favorite pastime, until recent years, was the sport of golf. He sometimes played with his wife or with his daughters, and he regularly followed it on television during professional tours. Fred had been awarded a First Place Trophy for shooting a hole in one at Blackberry Farms in Cupertino, CA.
Fred was an advanced level Bridge player. Fred and Karyl played almost daily, at the Long Beach Bridge Club (former), online, at Bridgebase.com, or at home with Karyl's sister Karen, and her husband Bill.
Fred enjoyed the outdoors, including the redwoods at Big Basin in Northern CA and Yosemite National Park. In his younger years he successfully climbed Half Dome.
Fred was an avid reader of classic, timeless novels. He often read books on psychology, and on astronomy, as well. He had a high-end computerized telescope for detailed viewing of the planets.
Astronomy and handwriting analysis were his more relaxing past times . He researched and wrote papers on extrasensory perceptive experiences, also known as Cryptaesthesia, which refer to psychic abilities beyond the five senses; such as telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition.
Fred maintained a beautiful backyard garden and enjoyed outdoor entertaining and barbecuing. He had been growing tomato plants every Spring ever since moving to Fallenleaf Lane in Los Altos in 1971.
Fred cared about socioeconomic causes such as homelessness and animal rights. He was close to a German Shepherd named Rommel that he bought from a breeder years ago to undergo attack and discipline training. Rommel's commands were spoken to him only in German. He was a beautiful award- winning show dog.
Other family pets included a Chihuahua-mix named Chipita that could climb his way to the top of medium-sized bushes through the interior branches, a Redbones Coonhound named Daisy, a Pomeranian named Bandit and a tortoise seen slowly climbing its way up Fallenleaf Lane on many afternoons before finally being brought home.
The girls also raised rats and hamsters and took care of tropical fish. They were active in after school programs, including Brownies and Girl Scouts, they attended youth camps and Sunday School, took piano and dance lessons, and both were good swimmers. Fred and Karyl were Block Parents in Los Altos. Karyl adopted and cared for stray cats in Los Altos, and in Signal Hill.
Fred and Karyl were cremated at the Nautilus Society in Lawndale, CA and their ashes were deposited in the Pacific Ocean in a small, private ceremony.
To further contribute photographs or more information to this article, kindly e-mail Evelyn, gevelynre@gmail.com.
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