Glenn Marshall Bergmann of Olathe, Kansas, died early Jan. 10, 2020, amid complications from prostate cancer. He was 94.

Glenn, known to family and friends as G, was a man of many, many stories and enjoyed sharing them all (most of which he swore were true). He loved to give advice and would expend lots of energy persuading people that his way was the right way to go. He liked to keep up to speed on the latest technological inventions, teaching himself computer programming and with his son developing computerized programs for, among other things, investment management. He was proud to be the host of his retirement community’s “Tech Talk” and helped initiate its weekly chat sessions.

He was born Dec. 13, 1925, in Axtell, Kansas, the eighth child and third son of Edward William Bergmann—a farmer, grain elevator manager, telephone company president, and mayor—and homemaker Hannah Gertrude Ely Bergmann. Glenn was driving a car by himself at age nine and helped work three family farms. Because of a teacher’s car accident, he taught an Axtell High School algebra class for six weeks while still a freshman; he graduated from there in 1943.

Glenn enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps when he turned 18 and trained in aircraft electronics, traveling around the country while becoming a radar mechanic and eventually transferring to the Army Signal Corp and getting experience with Navy ship radar and as a supply sergeant. With the help of the GI Bill, he attended Kansas State University, where he met his wife, Evelyn; they married in 1949. In 1950 he graduated with honors with a degree in electrical engineering with an emphasis on electronics. He was thrilled that his grandson followed in his footsteps.

His long career took him to many aviation electronics and data companies—Boeing, Sperry, Lear, Collins Radio, King Radio, Wulfsberg Electronics, Sundstrand, Maxwell Data Management—and many locations around the United States (Kansas, New York, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Washington state, Iowa, California) as he moved into sales and marketing, becoming an industry expert on automatic flight control systems and traveling around the world. He was a certified pilot and at one point owned a used airplane, often flying to family gatherings.

After discovering the joys of recreational vehicles, Glenn and Evelyn in 1968 bought a pig farm in Perry, Kansas, and converted it into an RV park, motorhome sales center, and boat storage facility during what he referred to as his first retirement. They moved to the farm in 1972.

Glenn dove back into the aviation electronics industry in 1977, starting a tradition of doing pig pickin’s—roasting a whole pig for a full day to entertain both customers and family. He also developed the idea of putting aircraft technical manuals on CD-ROMs for airlines.

His travels weren’t done when he retired full time in 1988. In 1992 Glenn and Evelyn became “full-timers” in a motorhome for 3½ years, a time they both spoke of with fondness as they met good friends at motorhome rallies. They continued to travel for months at a time in their motorhome afterward and eventually moved back to Johnson County, Kansas, in 2004 to be closer to their families. Their current home is the 23rd since they were married. 

In addition to his parents, Glenn was preceded in death by his two brothers and four sisters (Kenneth, Harold, Gladys, Florence, Louise, and Norma) and daughter-in-law Katharine Rudy Bergmann. He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Evelyn Bowman Bergmann, Olathe; son Kent, Olathe; daughter Trish, Irving, Texas; daughter Lori (Jodi Schoeck), Lake in the Hills, Illinois; grandson Nicholas (Amber), Olathe; and numerous nieces and nephews, many of whom made sure to stop by from time to time to see their uncle and aunt.

A celebration of life will be held at some point in the spring. Donations can be sent to the Good Samaritan Program at Aberdeen Village at https://giving.presbyterianmanors.org/donate/donate-aberdeen-village/