Bill Nam, age 86, died on Sunday March 26, 2017, in Cloverdale. The eldest of 11 siblings, born in Birkenhead UK, he resided in the town of Carmarthen in South Wales. He received primary education in a Hong Kong private school. He returned for secondary education to Carmarthen. A keen pupil, Bill advanced to the top of his class and was awarded scholarship to the University of London. On 14 August 1955 Bill received a Bachelor of Science (Special) with Second Class Honors (upper division) in Chemistry. On 17 December 1955, Bill married Liisa Karina Salo in Manchester England. Liisa died on 2 June 2009. Bill is survived by 2 sons, a grandson, and several UK siblings.
Bill excelled academically with a prodigious memory and a capability for abstract analysis. He developed and published the Farthing-Nam Equation in Organic Chemistry describing thermodynamic ionization.
Bill pursued a career in Industrial Chemistry working in the field of photographic films and emulsions for Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) LTD as a research scientist. Later he became Product Manager at Ilford LTD in the development of color film processes. Bill avidly pursued photography, testing prototype color film emulsions by taking pictures of the family and developing them in his lab for evaluation.
Awarded 8 patents in photo-science technology and polyurethane formulations, he developed and commercialized color transparencies and color prints for the photographic industry.
From 1949 to 1951, Bill was engaged with the National Service in the Royal Air Force as a seaplane radio technician in Bristol.
In 1967 Bill was Associate Director at Technical Operations Corp., Burlington Massachusetts, residing in Lexington, and then Chelmsford. State of the art laboratory equipment including scanning electron microscopy, lasers, and analog holography were among the technology he delighted in demonstrating to his sons. He was responsible for the project management of photo-technology contracts with NASA, Langley, Wright Patterson AFB, and the DIA. Bill developed a specific infrared emulsion for aerial reconnaissance.
In 1970 Bill moved to Cupertino as Director of Manufacturing, Xidex Corp. a Sunnyvale California start-up producing archival microfilm and magnetic media for digital storage.
In 1978 Bill worked at Omex Corp. Santa Clara, as Director of Media Development in the field of laser optical memory, and awarded two process patents for the development of thin film media. Omex was the pioneer in the development of the CD-ROM.
In 1980 he worked for Burns Research Inc. in Sunnyvale doing consulting work in solid-state imaging systems as Vice President and General Manager. He set up an 8 million dollar semiconductor-fabrication facility, designed and fabricated a state-of-the-art 400,000 pixel image sensor for Fuji Photo Film, and developed semiconductor processes for prototype devices.
Throughout his life, Bill traveled extensively attending technical conferences and industrial facilities. Among his travels he visited his family’s native village, Taishan China, to honor the memory of his father Chin Nam, and mother Siu Chan, and the town of his betrothed, Pori Finland, and visits to the UK and continental Europe. Bill visited Japan during his career in California, and spoke highly of his hosts erudition and civility.
Bill became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. He quit smoking “cold-turkey” at 55. In 1994 he retired and moved to Winter Park Florida. In 2000, to be close to his grandson, he moved to Cloverdale California.
Bill’s jovial smile is fondly remembered for a disarming sense of humor and infectious laughter. He loved and married a beautiful woman. Together they traveled the globe. He cultivated and maintained a deep interest in the humanities, literature, music, and philosophy. As a social contract bridge player, crossword puzzle solver, serial Jeopardy TV viewer, and Scrabble word game family legend, he casually exercised his intellect daily. With an interest in creative writing he wrote a private collection of historical anecdotes. His projects in carpentry and representational fine art remain as testament to craft and artistic expression. As the son of a restaurateur, he was an excellent chef, despite playing a distant second fiddle to his wife, the household matron most adept in the culinary arts.
His survivors wish to thank his caregiver Janet Seaforth for her vital support, the superior loving care of the Cloverdale Healthcare Center, and dear readers sharing sympathies.
In memory of Bill Nam, in lieu of flowers, a charitable donation may be made to Meals on Wheels: http://www.councilonaging.com/meals-on-wheels/
“Trust that those we call the dead, are breathers of an ampler day, for ever nobler ends” – Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam CXVII
