Jan Joseph Wittenber, 75, passed away on May 20, 2021.
The world lost a mighty warrior when you passed this morning, Jan. A gentleman, scholar, humanitarian of the first order and a bright light of integrity in a world that is overrun with obfuscation, Jan “Jay” Wittenber loved saving lives. He was a major architect/contributor of EKG devices used in emergency rooms and remote patient vital signs monitoring systems in use today throughout the globe. He was a strong advocate for patient safety, while at Hewlett Packard, Agilent and Philips, in his steadfast defense of avoiding “collateral damage” in the premature deployment of life-saving medical devices. Thanks to his concern and contributions to the health and well being of humanity, his deft design and engineering of many critical, medical imaging devices, thousands of patients are able to draw a breath today.
He was also chair of the ISO/IEEE Upper Layers for medical imaging devices and traveled frequently on planes, compromising his circulatory system and his personal health, which contributed to his untimely demise at the age of 75.
Jan Joseph Wittenber was born in Chicago, on July 9, 1945, to Celia Ginsburg Wittenber and Jan B. Wittenber. At the age of four, his family moved to Burlington, where he attended Lincoln School, Waller School and for his Freshman year, Burlington High School. Beginning with his Sophomore year, Jan attended and graduated in 1963 from the Lab High School at the University of Chicago, where his mother was employed. After graduation, Jan joined the US Navy, where he became a Petty Officer stationed at the Pacific Fleet Naval Base at Coronado Island, Calif. After the Navy, he returned briefly to Chicago, en route to Miami University in Ohio, where he earned a Bachelors Degree in 1971 and met his future wife, Kay Jarvis. He and Kay settled in Andover, Mass. where he continued his education at Tufts University, pursuing his Masters Degree. Prior to his retirement in 2018, he became a Fellow at The Center for Medical Interoperability. In 2019 Jay and Kay moved to Gresham, Ore. to be closer to their sons.
Jay is survived by his wife, Kay; his sons Jesse and Ian, whom he dearly loved; his sisters Dian Carity and Lynn Christofferson; his cousins, Jo Harrington, David Harrington and Julie Parks; and his niece, Lisa Musso.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Online condolences can be sent to [email protected].
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