William Harold Sehestedt

William (Bill) Sehestedt passed away on February 16, 2018 at the Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was born on May 28, 1942 in Santa Cruz, California to Hazel and Harry Sehestedt. The family moved to Boise, Idaho for health reasons (his father’s asthma condition), and Bill spent his childhood in Boise where he attended Borah High School and later Boise Junior College for two years, majoring in Art. For his love of the ocean, he returned at age 20 to Santa Cruz where he became an avid surfer. At that time he met Marianna Swidersky who was a student at Cabrillo College. After a short courtship of only a month, they were married on August 29, 1964.

He joined the Naval Reserves and later served his active duty in the Navy in a special unit called the “Seabees’” during the Vietnam War. After an Honorable Discharge in 1969, he traveled with Marianna extensively in Europe, visiting Germany, France, Italy and Denmark.

Back in the United States, Bill attended San Jose State University where he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Design. He worked for several start-up companies in Silicon Valley doing mold design and Mechanical Engineering. His engineering career spanned over 30 years. He was a truly gifted Engineer, hard-working and highly esteemed by his co-workers and peers. Bill had a talent to design machinery that was easy to operate, simple and not complicated in its application. His accomplishments included several patents for the wafer processing industry at Veeco Instruments, Anicom and Wave Splitters Inc. Also, he was a founding member of Quadlux Inc. where he worked as the Mechanical Engineer on an invention for a new oven technology, cooking with light.

For recreation, Bill enjoyed playing golf, traveling in the US and Mexico and above all else studying aviation history. He loved watching the discovery and history channel and any subject on aviation. Bill received a pilot’s license and a deep-sea ocean driving license. He loved cooking for his family and prepared delicious dishes for friends and family. Bill further liked inventing and producing practical gadgets, building models for airplanes, numerous home improvements and art projects. His garage was filled with every conceivable tool and material he needed for his projects.

Bill also loved animals and had a favorite cat named “Squeaker”. But Art was Bill’s special love and he left his family many of his own works and paintings. Truly, he was a master of many trades, always able to solve mechanical problems and had practical solutions for the most difficult tasks. He was a member of the Las Vegas Art Guild and enjoyed contributing to local art exhibitions.

Bill is survived by his wife of 54 years Marianna, Son Greg and wife Andrea, Daughter Annemarie and his beloved grandchildren Antoinette (14 years), Will (11 years), and Nicki (8 years) who all lovingly called him “Papa”. He is survived by his sister Pat and her husband Paul and his brother John and his wife Barbara and a number of cousins, nephews and nieces.

Bill requested to be cremated with his ashes to be disbursed into the ocean at Santa Cruz. Later on his son and wife Andrea will host a Celebration of Bill’s life at their home in Campbell, California for friends and family. Bill was a truly devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend and he will remain in our hearts and memory forever. In lieu of flowers, mourners may make a donation to the Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas.