O. Wendell Hanson

Salt Lake City – O. Wendell Hanson, 91, died on June 14, 2019 after a short illness.  Born in Logan, Utah on June 4 1928, the son of Oliver and Ethel Hanson.  At the age of 16, he became an Advanced Class ham radio operator (W7JIR) that he remained active in well into his 80s.  Also, at age 16, he learned to fly and obtained his private pilot’s license.  From his early 20s until his early 40s, he owned and flew his own private planes.  He received a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Idaho in June, 1950.  Between 1951 and 1953 he served as a 1st Lieutenant in the US Air Force during the Korean War.  While in the military, he met and married Barbara A. Weathers on November 7, 1952 in Cocoa, FL.  Following their wedding, they moved to the Salt Lake City area where he started his Engineering career with Utah Power and Light.  Later he worked for Sperry/Univac Corp. designing subsystems for various US missile projects.  In 1972, he started his own Electronics company, Applied Electronics Labs.  He built and operated a number of mobile radio repeater systems throughout Utah and built a privately-owned mobile radio network extending from Salt Lake City into southern Utah, Wendover and western Wyoming for Wheeler Machinery Co.  He was also involved in private aircraft radio installation and repair along with business radio sales and service for General Electric covering all of Utah.  He also retailed & installed home and commercial satellite television equipment in the 1980s.  In later years, he moved into computer system fabrication, Internet web site development and computer maintenance for home users that he continued with well into his 80s.  He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Jackie.  He is survived by his ex-wife Barbara, Las Vegas, NV, daughter Susan Davis, Newport Beach, CA, son Brad, Salt Lake, and son Steven, Las Vegas, NV, five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren along with his great friend of over 60 years Boone Newson.  He requested there be no funeral or gravesite services.  Interment will be at the Logan City Cemetery, Logan, UT on June 25, 2019.