Gunnar Bror Bergman, 95, passed away peacefully at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara on May 26, 2019, with his family by his side.
Gunnar was born on September 18, 1923, in Stockholm, Sweden, to Edit and Broder Bergman. He had an older half-sister, Anna-Eva Bergman, and an older brother, Carl-Gustaf Bergman.
In May, 1947, Gunnar received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The following September, he received his officer’s commission as second lieutenant in the Royal Svea Artillery Regiment.
Gunnar and a close friend decided to tour the U.S. before starting their professional careers. They traveled across the country, starting in New York City and arriving in Pasadena, California, in May of 1949. There Gunnar met Linus Pauling, who offered him a job as a research assistant in the department of metallic compounds. In May, 1951, Gunnar earned his Ph.D. for the discovery of the structure of the iron-chronium sigma phase, and the following September he joined the Caltech chemistry faculty as an assistant professor.
In 1953, Gunnar met and married Judith Hunter Kimball. Gunnar and Judy were devoted parents of two children, Charlie and Ginny, and Gunnar’s great love in life was his family.
From September, 1957, to May, 1958, Gunnar and Judy spent about eight months in Germany and Austria on a Guggenheim Fellowship, where Gunnar continued his research on the structure of metals at the laboratory of U. Dehlinger at the Max Planck Institut für Metallforschung in Stuttgart.
In 1961, Gunnar decided to leave academia and apply this technical skills in industry. After a short stint at Hughes Aircraft in Long Beach, he joined National Engineering and Science Company (Nesco) in Pasadena as its Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist. There Gunnar worked on a wide variety of scientific projects.
After Nesco’s merger with Western Offshore Drilling and Exploration Company (Wodeco) in 1968, Gunnar served as Wodeco’s Senior Vice President of Oceanography and shifted his focus to the stabilization of offshore oil-drilling platforms. In 1974 he and Judy moved to Emerald Bay near Laguna Beach, following Fluor Corporation’s purchase of Wodeco in 1969, and shortly thereafter he became and independent consultant, continuing to work on stabilization systems for Exxon.
In 1976, Gunnar and Judy moved to Montecito, California, where Gunnar joined two partners to form an ocean-engineering company called SeaTek. He received 11 patents for his inventions, which dramatically increased the safety and productivity of offshore drilling operations. Gunnar worked at SeaTek until his retirement in 1988.
Outside of his professional life, Gunnar had a great love for the outdoors. In his youth in Sweden he was an avid skier and hiker, and he enjoyed skiing and hiking with his colleagues at Caltech. He also took up mountaineering, and on June 30, 1952, Gunnar and two of his Caltech colleagues, George Beadle and Alfred Tissieres, completed a first ascent of Mt. Doonerak, a 6,870-foot peak in Alaska’s Brooks Range. He enjoyed numerous picnics, hikes, backpacking trips, and other outdoor adventures with his wife, Judy, and his children, Charlie and Ginny.
Gunnar also a had a passion for classical music, in particular Beethoven’s string quarters and German lieder, which gave a musical voice to the German poetry he so enjoyed. He studied cello during his Caltech years, and he and Judy enjoyed attending concerts in Pasadena, and concerts and masters classes in Santa Barbara.
During their 65 years of marriage, Gunnar and Judy had nine dogs, three cats, and least four dozen chickens, Gunnar was fond of them all. He delighted in a frolic in the mountains of by the sea with his four-legged canine friends.
Gunnar is survived by his two children, Charlie and Ginny, and his grandchildren, Lizzy, Andrew, Will, and Peter.
Gunnar’s life will be celebrated by family members in the near future.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Gunnar’s name may be made to the Santa Barbara Humane Society at 5399 Overpass Rd., Santa Barbara, CA 93111, or online at sbhumanesociety.org.
