Plan for the Future
Bruce Allison Havourd, 82, of Summit, NJ, died peacefully at home on February 22, 2024.
He was born in Summit on July 4, 1941 to Russell Myers Havourd and Margit Ahlin Havourd of Chatham, NJ. Bruce attended Chatham High School before studying Electrical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Psychology at Upsala College. He later earned a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Kean University.
Bruce began his career as an engineer at Thomas and Betts, a leading electrical equipment manufacturer, where he designed the infield toteboards for Aquaduct, Saratoga, and Belmont Raceways on behalf of the New York Racing Association, and connectors and plastic tie-wraps that were used by NASA in the LOX tanks of the Saturn rockets and in the Lunar Excursion Module. He then worked for Thomas A. Edison Laboratories where he designed electronic teaching machines called the Edison Responsive Environment; and, subsequently, Quan-Tech, a supplier of OEM test instruments and government defense equipment, where he designed digital low frequency tracking wave analyzers, a cross spectral density computer for industry, and an ultra-low-noise sonar amplifier for use on atomic submarines.
He became a school teacher in mid life, teaching second, third and fifth grades in a local elementary school and eventually retiring from the profession as a sixth grade social studies and reading teacher as well as the manager of the gifted and talented class.
Bruce had many hobbies and interests, including camping, fishing, photography, model airplanes, audio engineering, scuba diving, and amateur radio. He was a member of the Amateur Extra Class (KQ2E) and the New Providence Amateur Radio Club. He was also a longtime member of the Lions Club and a fifty-year member of Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, NJ.
He is survived by his wife of fifty-eight years, Katrina Jenkins Havourd, his two daughters, Allison Cooper (Fred) and Wendy Bittman (David), and one grandson.
