Henry Merle Conor 1925 - 2009

CONOR , WILLEY

Posted By: Deb (email)
Date: 10/5/2009 at 14:07:59

Henry M. Conor, age 83, formerly of Eden Prairie, MN, passed away Saturday, April 25, 2009, at Appleton Medical Center in Appleton, WI.

Henry is survived by his wife, Fern; sons: Henry D. Conor and Barrett J. (Francisca) Conor; 7 grandchildren; 4 great-grandchildren; and brother, Al Conor. He is further survived by other relatives and friends.

Henry was preceded in death by his brother, Darrell and sister, Phyllis.

Henry was born 8 September 1925 in Burlington, IA, the third of four children of Wilbur V. and Mary E. Willey Conor. He attended Salter School, Horace Mann Junior High and Burlington High School. In his senior year, scheduled to graduate at age 16, he left school and joined the U.S. Navy.

After completing Boot Camp and Service School in Fire Control at Great Lakes Training Center, he spent the next three years at several Ship Repair Bases in the U.S. and in the South Pacific. He was discharged in February 1946, and married Fern Marie Sedlack in Berwyn, IL.

From 1948 to 1951 he completed study at two technical schools in Chicago. In 1951 he entered the University of Illinois at Urbana, graduating in February 1954 with a BS degree in Mathematics. From 1953 Henry was employed part time at the university's Physics Research Laboratory as an Accelerator Engineer. Their son, Henry Dean was born in Urbana on 15 April 1953.

In November 1955, he joined what was to become Univac in St. Paul, MN as an electronics engineer. In 1958, with three other engineers, he formed Data Display, Inc. to design and produce displays for digital computers. At the time of the sale of the company to Control Data Corporation, he held the position of Secretary-Treasurer of the company, and acted as general administrator of the non-technical activities. Their second son, Barrett Jay was born on 26 May 1956 in St. Paul, MN.

In 1968, with two other engineers, he formed Data 100 Corporation in Edina, MN to design and produce intelligent terminals for business applications. In 1971 he resigned his position as founder, Director and Secretary-Treasurer to become a Management Consultant. His clients included both private and public businesses; automobile dealerships, printing companies, electronics manufacturers and paper mill operators.

He retired from all business activities in 1991, having served 20 years as officer and director of Chase Printing Co, of St. Paul, MN, and 21 years as officer, director and consultant to Pentair, Inc. of Roseville, MN. His time in retirement was concentrated on genealogy. He was the author of “The Alsup Update” for over a dozen years and “The Unnecessary Autobiography of Henry M. Conor”.

A private memorial service was held.