Curt H. Chadwick

1940 - 2020 Resident of Los Gatos

Curt died peacefully, surrounded by his family, on Friday, May 15, 2020. He is survived by his beloved wife Bernadette, as well as his son Charles. Curt was born in 1940 in Hanover, New Hampshire and grew up in Manhattan, Kansas. His father Theodore (Chad) was an architect and professor at Kansas State University. His mother Elizabeth was an artist. As a child, Curt indulged his interests in cars and woodworking. He built a tree house for himself at the age of 7. Curt went on to study physics at Kansas State University (KSU). A climb up Long’s Peak in Colorado with his father inspired his love of mountain climbing, He moved to the San Francisco Bay Area In the early 60’s to not only study for a PHD in mechanical engineering at Stanford, but to also become a mountain climber.

In 1972 Curt attained his PHD, and then went on to work in the fledging Silicon Valley tech industry. In 1978, he became one of the first 20 employees at KLA Instruments, which now numbers over 4000 employees. While at KLA, he designed wafer inspection machines: devices that made it possible for computers to have functioning circuits in silicon processors. Essentially, computers would not exist in the manner that they do today without the machines that he helped design. Ultimately, Curt attained 16 patents for KLA (now Kla-tencor), and generated millions of dollars in revenue for them and the Silicon Valley economy.

His life in California added up to more than just his employment, however. He pursued his interests in woodworking, architecture design, furniture design/building, hiking, and bike riding. He ran marathons, went on hikes spanning dozens of miles, and went on 100 mile bike rides. And of course, there was his first love of mountain climbing. He climbed dozens of mountains, including Mount Denali in Alaska: the highest mountain in North America.

Of course, there was his interest in cars also. He earned the money needed to buy his first motorcycle as a teen by bailing hay and working in the dairy barn at KSU. He bought his first Porsche at the age of 16. Curt always kept his car in immaculate shape, doing most of the work himself.

Always the humanist, he tutored inmates at Elmwood Prison in Math. Upon retiring, he volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, building houses for low income families. Throughout his life, he took his family to plays, to museums, on hikes, camping, and mountain climbing trips. Unfortunately, Curt had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2005 and it slowly impacted his activities and abilities. But he soldiered on with the same attitude that he had lived with.

Curt will be missed by all who knew him. A memorial service will be held at a future date.