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02/27/2023 - Sacramento, California, USA

On February 27, 2023 Fermin Viteri died peacefully at his home in Sacramento surrounded by his wife and family. He was 93 years old.

Fermin was born on April 18, 1929 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Fermin and Regina Viteri. His parents were Basque immigrants from Spain and he had one brother, who later died in World War II, and seven sisters. Fermin graduated from Williams High School and later went on to attend UC Berkeley where he graduated with a degree in engineering in 1952. While in college, he met and married his first wife, Kathleen Berry, and they had one daughter.

In 1956, he started his job as an aerospace engineer at Aerojet in Sacramento. At about that same time, he married his second wife, Julie, and they had two children. He had a long and distinguished career at Aerojet and retired in 1992. He worked at Aerojet during the exciting time in the 60s when the U.S. space race was in full swing. He was one of the team of engineers at Aerojet in Rancho Cordova that built an engine for the Apollo 11 spacecraft that carried the astronauts to the moon in July 1969. At the beginning of the 60s, when Aerojet was starting involvement in the space mission, he was inspired to go back and get his master's degree in math which he was granted by Sacramento State University in 1962. In 1969, he began work on his Ph.D. in an area of engineering he found particularly fascinating: heat and power. He worked on it until 1972, but decided not to complete it. It was hard to balance family life, a full-time job and a rigorous academic program. He said it was still an invaluable experience and it gave him a deeper understanding of the principles of engineering.

After his retirement from Aerojet, Fermin's career branched off in another direction. With his keen mind and interest in tackling difficult world problems, he focused next on how to slow global warming here on our own planet. He and some other colleagues of his, mostly retired engineers like himself, started a company called Clean Energy Systems (CES) in 1993. Their mission was to produce power without pollution. They received several patents for the technology they developed to build a gas generator that produced steam and carbon dioxide. He worked tirelessly on these projects because they were his passion, but he found time to enjoy his retirement too.

He and Julie, his wife of 67 years, liked to play golf and they also did some traveling to different parts of the world. He especially loved to spend time with his large extended family and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In his younger years, Fermin played football and it remained something he avidly enjoyed as a loyal 49ers fan for the rest of his life. Always ready to take on a new challenge, he put his engineering skills to use and built a motorboat when he was in his 30s. He loved to take it out to Folsom Lake on hot summer days and he taught everyone in the family how to water ski. He sought out new paths to explore in both his personal life and his amazing career.

Fermin is preceded in death by his daughter, Joan. He was survived by his loving wife, Julie, but she died only six weeks after his death. He is survived by his youngest sister, Rose and his children, Cynthia Moore and Craig Viteri. He was the proud grandfather of Colin, Derek and Libby Moore (Davtyan) and four great-grandchildren. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank Sutter Hospice for their wonderful care and support during Fermin's final days. A memorial celebration of life will be held on July 29 to honor Fermin and Julie.

(published by The Sacramento Bee, Legacy.com on Jun. 4, 2023)

Gugan Bego (GB) - May Rest in Peace