Martin O. Piepenburg

Martin O. Piepenburg, 94, of Monterey, passed away on Sunday, Aug. 28, in Culver. 

Born in Chicago in 1922, and a graduate of Chicago’s Carl Schurz High School, Martin was a lifelong amateur radio operator (call letters W9OLD). He served during World War II in the U.S. Merchant Marine as radio officer on Liberty and Victory ships, one of them delivering runway materials to Iwo Jima one week after the island had been secured. Martin’s career as a technician and writer in various branches of the Bell System spanned four decades, from wartime radar testing for Western Electric in Cicero, Illinois, to writing user manuals in the early days of personal computers, for the Teletype Corporation, in Skokie, Illinois.  Martin is remembered for his intense curiosity; his passion for history, railroads and classical music; for his kindness to  animals; for his devotion to his wife and family; and for his fierce individualism. 

Martin and Alice relocated to Monterey more than 20 years ago, from Palatine, Illinois.  

He is survived by his wife of 70 years Alice (Hammerberg); sons: Karl of Oakford, Illinois, Kurt [Sarah] of Boerne, Texas, and Kris of Palatine, Illinois; granddaughters: Holly and Lorna Piepenburg of Oakford, Illinois; Jillian Piepenburg of Boerne, Texas, Jayne Piepenburg of Boston, and Cale [Brian] Patton of Chicago; grandson David Shell of Palatine, Illinois; great-grandson Beowulf Patton of Chicago; and great-granddaughters Hannah and Marlee Shell of Palatine. 

He was preceded in death by his daughter Karen E. Piepenburg; parents Martin B. and Laurene (Otto) Piepenburg; and sisters: Dolores Brace of Berkeley, California, and Annamar Niloff of Michigan City. 

Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, at the Riverside Memorial Cemetery, in Monterey, with arrangements by the Odom Funeral Home in Culver.  

(Pulaski County Journal — Aug. 31, 2016)