Fred P. Venditti

FRED P. VENDITTI passed away on February 19th, 2019, in Denver, Colorado. He was born in Pueblo, Colorado, to Nick and Anna (Reba) Venditti on October 11, 1921. He is survived by his wife Helen M. (Moss) Venditti, daughters, Sharon (Edward) Zias, Diane, granddaughters Lisa and Jennifer Zias, great grandsons Bennie, Markus, Korey and Jamari, and two great granddaughters, Maddie and Ava.

Fred was reared in Pueblo, where he attended Bessemer, Keating Junior High, and Central High schools. He was employed at the CF&I Company from 1937 to 1939. He received a B.S. Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado in 1943. He entered the Army Reserves on December 8th, 1941, and went on active duty in 1943, and was trained as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Signal Corps. He went on inactive reserve duty with the rank of 1st Lieutenant, after serving in the Pacific Theater and received an honorable discharge in 1953.

After WWII he was employed as a technical writer by Sprayberry Academy of Radio in Pueblo and later moved to Chicago, Ill. He went to work at Motorola as a development engineer where he did pioneering work in color television and military electronics. His proudest achievement was the development of the first transistor radio at Motorola in 1953 as part of a three-man team.

Fred joined the University of Denver in 1954 as a research engineer and worked on a wide variety of studies and development projects in military, space, and commercial electronics, including radio, cable television, digital computers, ultrasonics, electrostatic precipitators, and medical instrumentation. In 1975 he advanced to the position of Head of the Electronics Division of the Denver Research Institute, whence he retired in 1987 as a Senior Research Fellow emeritus.

Fred was very active in community service including committees of the University of Denver. He was a Life Member in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and one of the earliest members of the Association of Computer Machinery, and Science Fairs. Before becoming a Life Member in the Knights of Columbus he advanced through the ranks of Grand Knight and Faithful Navigator in the Denver area, while serving on many committees of the state council.

He married Helen M. Moss in 1987. They traveled extensively by trailer and motor home for the next fifteen years through Canada, Alaska, and most of the western, midwestern, and southeastern parts of the United States on fishing adventures. They moved to Canon City, Colorado in 1953, where Fred and Helen continued their travels and community service with the Knights of Columbus, St. Michael’s Church, Science Fairs, the Fremount County Literacy Committee, the Senior Corps of Retired Engineers (SCORE) and the Fremount County Community Concert Association and the Fremont Civic Theater Association.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wife Mary Ann (Mulay) Venditti; sisters and brothers in-law Margaret and Daniel Savage, and Rose Marie and Joseph Biernat. Also his siblings, Margaret (Venditti) Savage, Dan Savage; Rose (Venditti) Biernat; Joe Biernat; John Venditt; Dorothy (Wormack) Venditti; Wilma Jean (Venditti) Taylor; William Taylor

Rosary: March 7, 2019 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Horan & McConaty - South Denver
1091 S. Colorado Blvd.
Denver, CO 80246

Funeral Mass: March 8, 2019 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Risen Christ Catholic Parish
3060 South Monaco Parkway
Denver, CO 80222
303-758-8826

Reception: March 8, 2019 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm

Horan & McConaty - SE Denver/Aurora
11150 E. Dartmouth Ave.
Aurora, CO 80014

Graveside Service: March 8, 2019 2:15 pm - 2:45 pm

Fort Logan National Cemetery
3698 South Sheridan Boulevard
Denver, CO 80236
(303) 761-0117
https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/ftlogan.asp