On Sunday, December 3, 2023, Terry Ward Priester, 84, passed from this Earth in Anaheim, California. His wife of 64 years, Linda Priester, and daughters, Lisa Priester and Luann Walters, were at his side.  Terry was the oldest son of Albert Bergen and Elizabeth "Betty" Nutter. His brother, Keith Priester, predeceases him, and his sister, Nikki Stevens, survives him. 

Born in Oklahoma, Terry and family moved to Bell Gardens, California, in 1949. He attended Bell Gardens High School, where he was valedictorian and where he met my mother. Terry was a natural, self-taught engineer who enjoyed tinkering with his MG sportscar and Indian motorcycle. In 1959, he spent a few months in the Air Force. He was being trained as a navigator but flunked out of altitude testing. Shortly thereafter, he married his high-school sweetheart.

With a child on the way, he got an aerospace job in Orange County and bought a house and a Nash Rambler station wagon. He worked as a draftsman designer at Rockwell Autonetics, contributing to submarine guidance systems and the power supply for the space shuttle. One of his last jobs was digitizing the ICBM schematics that he had hand-drafted early in his career. He retired at age 50 and traveled across the country with my mom in their motor home.

I, Lisa, have fond childhood memories of tearing around the high desert in dad’s modified VW and visiting the races at Ontario Motor speedway. He could fix everything, except for that one inexplicable time he tried to fix my sister’s curling iron with hot glue. His grandchild, Josie May, used to tell me “Pop Pop is a good fixer.” Rest in peace, Dad. 

Send to someone

Share this obituary with others

https://everloved.com/life-of/terry-priester/obituary/

Copy