Donald Edwin Fiehmann
April 5, 1934 - December 13, 2020 Resident of San Jose
Donald Edwin Fiehmann, 86 years old. Don was born in San Jose to Helen Marie (Schlicker) and Martin August Fiehmann. Raised in Sunnyvale one block from the Southern Pacific rail line, sparking his interest in railroads at an early age. A graduate of Fremont High School in 1952, he played clarinet as a member of the school band and started a jazz band. English and typing were not his favorite subjects by far, but they became important in his later life.
After high school, he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve, serving for 8 years, but was never called to active duty. While in the Reserve, he worked for Pacific Bell, starting by digging ditches, and then climbing telephone poles. He worked for five years repairing and installing mobile radio equipment in taxis, honing trouble shooting skills that would benefit him throughout his career, using a saying he’d repeat many times during his life: “Look for something simple!” During this time he also worked part time for KNTV 11 as a camera operator and sound engineer.
Don met Marla Barrett from Stockton in 1955. They married in 1957.
In 1957, he left both jobs to join IBM. During his career he progressed from a technician in product development working on the IBM 604 Calculator powered by tubes to Staff Engineer, Computer Science Department, Research Division at the IBM Almaden Research Center campus, a position that normally required a master’s degree. He traveled extensively during his early career, troubleshooting IBM machines in the US and in Europe. He received a patent for a novel circuit design in magnetic stripe card readers which have been used in reading credit cards and BART cards. After 35 years at IBM, he retired in 1991.
He had a lifelong love of trains and model railroading that led to many lifelong friendships throughout the US, England, and Argentina, many of them fellow Ibmers. Family trips often included stays near railways where the family would ride on steam trains through the redwoods of Northern California.
He authored over 60 articles on model railroading for Railroad Model Craftsman and Model Railroader magazines that highlighted his expertise in electronics, appearing on the cover of the May 1976 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman, the first time anyone had appeared on the cover. He even designed a model train throttle, and ran a small company that sold kits that sold world wide. He also wrote 3 books on the subject, Basic Electricity for Model Railroading in 1988, The DCC Guide in 2007, and The DCC Guide, Second Edition in 2014.
Although his model railroad was based on the era of his childhood of late steam engines, he was always looking forward, and converted his entire railroad to a digital system (DCC) when it came out.
Don and Marla enjoyed 63 years of marriage together. They went on yearly summer family trips with their two children and later many trips and activities with the IBM Quarter Century Club and IBM retirement club. Don was a kind, gentle, and generous man with both his time and skills. He and his wife dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Santa and visited the IBM children’s party, rest homes, and private homes to bring Christmas cheer to everyone. Don passed away from complications due to heart failure. Although his health was declining in his later years, his mind was sharp up until the end, even testing a piece of new software on his phone on his last day.
He was predeceased by his brother Clarence “Sandy” Fiehmann, and is survived by his wife Marla, his daughter Darla (Woodruff), his son Brent, son in law Tom, his two grandchildren Michael and Katie, and his nephews Gary and Chris.
Don will fondly be remembered for his willingness to help co-workers, friends, neighbors, as well as total strangers. Donations may be made in his name to the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, The National Model Railroad Association, the Salvation Army, or the Humane Society.