William Slivkoff OBITUARY

William J. Slivkoff was the youngest of 14 children born to Russian immigrant farmers in Sebastopol, California. Bill grew up excelling in academics as well as sports and became the first person in his family to go to college. After attending Santa Rosa Junior College, he joined the Navy and served in Korea. After the war, thanks to the GI Bill, he was able to attend UC Berkeley, where he received his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering.His career started at IBM in San Jose, during which time he met Emma Rose Jones of Dixon, and they went on to get married and have three children. Bill continued his education and was one of the first students enrolled in Santa Clara University’s “early bird” Master’s program, where he earned his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering while working full-time.Bill was awarded a number of patents for equipment he designed at Ford Aerospace and Stanford Telecommunications. He was a pioneer in the development of GPS, and a lunar probe he designed in the 1960s is still on the moon.A long-time resident of Monte Sereno, he was an avid Los Gatos High School Football fan and rarely missed a home game.Bill is survived by his wife, Emma; and his children, Anne Slivkoff Salazar (Marty), W. Jay Slivkoff (Caroline), Suzanne Slivkoff (Randy Pufahl); and his four grandchildren, Raymond, Storm, Andrew and Ava.In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to UC Berkeley’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Excellence Fund, University of California, Berkeley, Donor and Gift Services, 1995 University Avenue, Suite 400, Berkeley, CA 94704-1070.A private service will be held for the family.