Jeffrey Lenard Thwaite

Jeffrey Thwaite passed away on December 1, 2019, in Palo Alto, California at the age of 87. He was born to Lenard and Annie Thwaite in Bramley, in Yorkshire England. He attended Farnborough College of Technology, Cranfield University, and Stanford University, where he met his wife, Ruth.  They were married in the Stanford chapel and after their honeymoon, moved to Stevenage, England where Jeff worked as an aeronautical engineer.  In 1960, they immigrated to San Jose, California, where he worked at IBM as an industrial engineer, quality assurance engineer, and manager. Jeff later used his experiences to start the Santa Clara based computer company, Zentec in the early 1970’s. He retired at age 50 to travel, enjoy life at his cabin on Lake Almanor and be with his family.  He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Ruth, to whom he was married for 57 years.  He leaves their two daughters, Shannon Thwaite of San Jose, California and Whitney Thwaite of Menlo Park, California and grandson Finn Thwaite Turunc. His sister Marie Gray of New Zealand survives him. His family and many friends will remember him for his love of children, his creativity and hard work, and his zest for life. He passed along his passion for tennis, game playing, history, travel and learning to his children. He is deeply missed. A small private memorial service will be held for family and friends in 2020.