Obituary of David Frederick Lehman

David Frederick Lehman, a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, great-uncle, and loyal friend, passed away peacefully on March 26, 2021 at the age of 79 in the way he wanted, at home, surrounded by his loving family.  We were blessed to have him for the time that we did and with heavy hearts equally glad that he gave himself permission to finally rest.

Born on August 21, 1941 in Columbus, Ohio he was the beloved son of Ralph Joseph Lehman and Ruth Marie (Claus) Lehman.  Dave attended Glenmont Elementary School where his athletic talents were first recognized via awards in swimming.  He also received the Award of Merit from the AAA in recognition of his service as a member of the school safety patrol.  Since he kept meticulous records throughout his life, we now know he also achieved high marks in Spelling during his elementary years.  We cannot explain what happened to those skills later…  He was promoted to Crestview Junior High School where he again excelled in academics and sports receiving awards from the Honor Assembly and earned the Varsity Letter Monogram in track.  He graduated from North High School in Columbus, Ohio in 1959 where he lettered in both varsity track and football.  

Dave also earned multiple awards in archery and qualified as a sharpshooter marksman by the National Rifle Association, sports he learned at YMCA Camp Alfred L. Willson, a treasured childhood summer experience where he later worked with his best friend as a summer camp counselor.  During his time as a camper there he won awards in the shotput, discus, track relay, and swimming.  He was a certified lifeguard with the Central Columbus, Ohio YMCA.  While in school, he also earned a Certificate of Merit in recognition of successfully serving as a Carrier Salesman for the Columbus Dispatch.  Turns out that part of the reason he enjoyed that job was that his dad let him drive the car back home from the newspaper office after he finished his Sunday deliveries.

Favorite childhood memories include playing basketball with his dad after work.  He said they would shoot hoops together and their dad would take the boys out for ice cream on the weekends.  He also fondly recalled “riding the bumpers of cars” with his best friend (he described it as basically hooking onto a car bumper and sledding) toward their hilltop home during the winter when there was a good snow on the ground.  No, his parents did not know about that one!  Another cherished experience were the several father/son fishing trips to Lift the Latch Lodge on the French River in Canada.  The family also enjoyed trips with friends to Lake Chemong for fishing, and the challenge of non-keeled canoes.  

In June 1964, Dave graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering.  Weeks after his college graduation, he married his sweetheart, Kay.  They first met at a house next to an apartment building that college students had lived in where they often came over to watch OSU football games on television.  On one of these occasions, Kay said she was immediately drawn to this quiet handsome man sitting by himself.  She pulled up a chair, sat down next to him and the rest is history resulting in a loving marriage and partnership of almost 57 years.  

The couple headed to the Space Coast of Florida where he had accepted a job at Radiation, Inc.  Dave was determined to live on the water, so they used what savings they had to set up their first home together in an apartment on the ocean in Satellite Beach.  The water was so important to him, that they even went without a telephone until his first paycheck arrived.

Dave’s engineering career thrived at Radiation, Inc.  Skilled at organizing events, Dave spent hours researching party games and prizes for work picnics.  He remained with the company for 35 years until his retirement from what was then Harris Corporation in April 2000.

His special academic interests were antennas, wave propagation, radio astronomy and microwave circuits.  His work interests were in the field of antennas and space communication.  In preparation for his future, he took jobs that he said, “…brought me into contact with various types of people and taught me to appreciate the customer’s point of view…taught me how to assume responsibility and a chance to prove my dependability…and I learned the importance of accuracy in one’s work.”

Professional society memberships included Engineer in Training, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, The Society of Automotive Engineers and he was a social member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.

As an employee of Radiation, Inc., and later Harris Corporation, he worked on and/or lead some special projects that stood out for him in Phased Array Antenna, the Antenna and Microwave Section and Aerospace.

An early favorite he was involved in was one that took him halfway around the world to work for a colleague that would a few years later become basically a next-door neighbor living just a few doors away.  As an engineer, he was tasked with building the feed for a parabolic disc as part of an antenna to be used in an Air Force intercept test radar project.  The ALTAIR (ARPA Long-Range Tracking and Instrumentation Radar) project took him to work for Joe Noble on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific.  The antenna was assembled and tested in Maine, and then Dave lived for about a month on Roi-Namur Island.  With a smile in his eyes, he described how the Air Force would launch from Vandenberg AFB using the center of Kwajalein as a target.  The Island would fire back to try and intercept incoming missiles.  When incoming tests were conducted, they sought shelter in bunkers in case of debris.  (As a proud daughter, it was fun to see him excited recounting the work he did.)

Another engineering assignment was a job for the CIA to build a Waveguide Slot.  He also worked on a team to develop a Low Loss Waveguide.  One of his Phased Array projects resulted in a patent for a Limited Scan Antenna Array; an invention by Dave, and two other colleagues, one of which was his next-door neighbor and frequent fishing friend, Rich Phelan.  (For some light reading, it is patent number US3858221A.)     

He enjoyed a 10-year project that he worked on in conjunction with JPL.  Harris made and installed the Oscillator for the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) which measured near-surface ocean winds.  From space, engineers can deduce the speed and direction of the winds that cause the ocean’s waves as a radar bounces off the ocean surface.  It was launched on Japan’s Midori Satellite.  Unfortunately, the satellite lost power about 9 months after launch.   

His transition to Program Management came with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system used by NASA.  For this assignment, Harris built the antennas for 3 satellites that were part of a Mars program.  It was one of the largest Harris jobs at the time. Dave was one of seven Program Managers on the project.  He said, “We were sequestered in Building 19 and we each had our own team and were nicknamed ‘The 7 Dwarfs’.”  

He was a Project Manager on LANSAT which is the longest-running enterprise for acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth.  It is a valuable resource with applications ranging from ecology to geopolitical matters.  

He thoroughly enjoyed the work he did and the people he got to work with.  He got to do and see things a lot of people in his line of work dream of and appreciated the opportunities.  On a visit to Houston, he experienced the Space Shuttle Trainer and saw the Zero-Gravity Training Floor long before things like that were available for the public to see. 

In an employment consideration letter he wrote, “Because I realize that an Engineer must have a broad knowledge of other fields than strictly scientific studies, I have selected courses in Economics, Political Science and Business Law.  These have helped me to appreciate contemporary problems.  In addition, my extracurricular activities at Ohio State and my summer employments have taught me much about human relations.  If I were to be accepted, you would find me a faithful and dependable employee.  I am willing to work, learn and take responsibility.”

Those words were not just written to find his dream job; they were words he lived his life by.  Being his wife or his daughter was a blessing.  Calling Dave a friend was a privilege. If you needed a new car or appliance, he would spend hours researching the latest gadget for you.  If you had a home or repair project, he would come by with tools in hand ready to help.  If you were sick, he’d give you the latest recipe for a remedy.  If you wanted to know more about your family history, he was eager to dig in and prepare a spreadsheet of genealogical details for you.  If you were stuck on your 3rd grade math, he would try to teach you algebra to solve the problems.

Being a good friend was something deeply ingrained in Dave and he never took for granted.  He loved his scuba dive trips, snow ski trips, golf trips and other annual events he did with his friends.  Even when he could no longer fully participate in activities that he loved, such as golf, a few moments on the course with his buddies did wonders for lifting his spirits and putting a smile on his face.    

Dave was integral in the design and building of their home on the Indian River where he and Kay raised their cherished daughter, Dawn. Being a part of the River’s Edge community was special to him.  It was very heartwarming to read the words of a fellow neighborhood resident who recently wrote to Kay, “I will miss talking with Dave in your driveway.  He always made my day better.  He made River’s Edge better.”  

He did many of the upgrades and maintenance work on the house himself over the years.  His sense of curiosity and love of learning never ceased as he would teach himself new plumbing, electrical, structural, design, painting, and other skills instead of having someone else do it for him...unless it involved something that might burn the house down.  He became quite popular and friendly with other craftsmen and hardware store staff in the area who would greet him by name and ask about what he was working on lately.   

While living on the river, he enjoyed two Hobie Cat sailboats, canoeing, windsurfing, and many hours of fishing and shrimping from the dock.  The backyard and landscaping went thru a few creative iterations over the years as he enjoyed taking on new projects.  One of his favorite places to be was sitting on the back patio with a good book watching pelicans and dolphins go by.

He loved to spend time talking with neighbors and would often go for walks with his dog Koda in tow.  When he and Kay adopted Koda from Dawn, he spent many hours working with Koda enjoying taking him to obedience classes, studying dog training books, and setting up an agility course for him in the backyard.  Koda had Dave and Kay trained in no time.  Dave would occasionally tease Koda that he was going to trade him in for a Golden Retriever when he was being particularly stubborn, though.

He enjoyed several years as a Melbourne Beach youth girls’ soccer and softball coach.  It was very important to him to be the best possible coach and mentor he could be to his teams.  He would spend time researching and learning the nuances of the sports so he could pass along that knowledge to his players and fellow coaches.

Dave was also an avid hiker, mountain climber, water skier, deep sea fisherman, stargazer, animal lover, bird watcher, genealogist, photographer on land and underwater, and world traveler spending time in many countries.  The family went on several camping trips in one of their two VW vans owned over the years; first a delightfully 70’s orange, followed by a couldn’t miss lime green.  Cruising was a favored family pastime.  He enjoyed several ocean cruises and added two riverboat cruises on the Rhine and Danube to his list of travels in recent years.

A born explorer, Dave spent hours planning family vacations for which he carefully crafted itineraries.  These trips were not merely vacations, but rather opportunities to check another box off the bucket list.  White water rafting, zip lining, go karts, water parks, or perhaps summiting a “14er” were typical activities shared with Dawn, Kay and later with his grandchildren, Ethan, and Sydney.  He looked forward to summer visits with the grandchildren both at home in Florida and during family trips to Hilton Head.  He also loved to proudly cheer them on at whatever activity they were participating in whether it be sports, music, or academics.  Always searching for the next great adventure, he climbed and summited at least 30 14,000-foot mountains in Colorado.  Yes, there are detailed notes on each one which cross reference to the appropriate map and book.

He valued hard work.  He had a constant curiosity and was a lifelong student.  He took pride in a job well done.  He tried to pass along these gifts to his daughter and all that he mentored and coached.  By now, it is obvious he also passed on his passion of all things space, science, nature, travel, adventure, love of data collection and spreadsheets to Dawn.  One can never underestimate the value of a well-designed binder.

While we may have teased him about his obsession with research and documentation, without it, we would not have this treasure-trove of information about the incredible life of a man we love and miss so much.  

He is survived by his loving wife Kay (Houchins) Lehman, his beloved daughter Dawn Marie (Mike) Scanlon, his treasured grandchildren Ethan David Burdette and Sydney Marie Burdette, his brother and frequent travel buddy, Tom Lehman, brother Mike (Carol) Lehman, nephew Matt (Gillian) Lehman and great-nephews Garrett, Grady, Jacob, and great-niece Rebekah.  He is predeceased by his nephew Mark Lehman, beloved husband of Megan Lehman and proud father of Dave’s great-niece, Nora.  (A brilliantly talented golfer, Mark is currently working on his uncle and grandfather’s swings.)  He is also survived by his dog, Koda, who continues to tour the neighborhood in his bicycle basket, missing one of his two favorite humans, but enjoying the scenery and treats that follow.

A Celebration of Life Service is to be held in Dave’s memory at the Ammen Family Cremation & Funeral Care Chapel located at 1001 Hickory Street, Melbourne, FL 32901 on Friday, April 16, 2021 at 2:30 pm.  Guests are invited to arrive at 1:45 pm.  

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