Obituary: Chester "Chet" Ardean Dyrud

Chester "Chet" Ardean Dyrud, of Laurel, Maryland, formerly of Thief River Falls, passed away November 20, 2020, at the age of 83.

The funeral service will be at 11:00 AM, August 14, at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, Thief River Falls, MN, with Rev. Alex Amiot officiating. The committal service will be at Satersdal Lutheran Cemetery, north of Thief River Falls.

Chester A. Dyrud was born December 18, 1936, to Chester and Helga (Ose) Dyrud in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. He was baptized and confirmed in the Satersdal Lutheran Parish of rural Thief River Falls and was a lifetime member of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. He attended Steiner Country School in Excel Township and graduated from Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls in 1954.

Dyrud enrolled at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, for his freshman year (1954-1955) and transferred to the University of Minnesota (1955-1957). He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1958 and served for three and half years, primarily at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he worked on Nike missiles. After being honorably discharged in 1962, he continued his education at New Mexico State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1964.

On July 30, 1971, he married Gwen Cox of Graham, Texas.

He began his career with Univac, working on the Mercury Project, which sent America's first man into space. He often commented about his experiences tracking these early space flights on board a ship in the North Atlantic. Computers used at the time filled the complete cargo space of the ship he was on. Today's laptop computer is more powerful than the whole ship load of computer equipment needed at that time. During his time with Univac he spent the better part of a year living in Madrid, Spain, a country he learned to love. While there, he acquired a taste for lamb chops and bullfighting and prided himself in becoming a bullfighting "aficionado."

After leaving Univac, he worked for ESL in California until he was transferred to their office in Arlington, Virginia. He worked there for the rest of his career as a Ground Communications Specialist in Space (Satellite) Systems, consulting on space research and development for the United States Department of Defense. The ESL office in Virginia was bought out by other consulting companies, and when it was finally bought back by its employees, the name was changed to MRJ.

Most of his career with MRJ was spent traveling to Alice Springs, Australia, consulting on shared defense space research systems between their country and ours. He also worked for a time in Harrogate, England, on similar projects. Before retiring, he spent a few years as an independent consultant.

During retirement, Chet and Gwen spent winters in Sarasota, Florida, where he continued the friendship with his lifelong electrical engineering co-worker and friend Vernon Lee. Chet loved Sarasota and their Siesta key condominium at Gulf & Bay.

Survivors include his wife of fifty years Gwen Dyrud of Laurel, Maryland; sister Dr. Leola Furman, Maple Grove, MN; brothers Loiell (Mary) Dyrud, Thief River Falls, MN; Rev. Connely Dyrud, Maple Grove, MN, and Clark (Marilyn McGraw) Dyrud, Minnetonka, MN, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. He is also survived by close friend and neighbor Rosalie Wheatley and goddaughters Wendy (Jeff) Maynor and Anne (Stephen) Sparkman.

He was preceded in death by his parents, sister Julianna Mae, brother-in law Dr. Philip Furman, and sister-in-law Carolyn Dyrud.

Memorial donations may be made to the Satersdal Cemetery Association.