Lon Allen Hacker

Sharp and intelligent to the very end, Lon Allen Hacker, 69, expired suddenly on March 2, succumbing to cancer in the lungs. Born in Buffalo, NY, eldest of 5 sons of John and Mary Maxwell Hacker, Lon was victorious over poverty and adversity. He achieved a BA from State University at Buffalo in Mathematics. While enlisting in the U.S. Army, Lon was recognized for outstanding linguistic ability and trained in Russian at the Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA. Falling in love with California, he vowed that it would be his future home. He was assigned to the Aleutian Islands, and later to Berlin, Germany - which he loved. He studied at the Freie Universitat. Upon discharge, Lon traversed to U.C. Berkeley, his ‘dream school’, to fulfill his wish to live in CA and a post graduate study in mathematics. He achieved dual Masters Degrees in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering/Computer Science. At CAL, he met and in 1975 married, his lifelong sweetheart, Irene Sun. Upon graduating, IBM recruited Lon for assignment to Johnson Space Center at Houston, TX. He elatedly worked on NASA’s space shuttle programming trajectory/telemetry computation. After 2 years, he returned to IBM, San Jose, CA and became a Newark resident with Irene for 36 years. As an engineer, he diligently designed computer language in quality control for magnetic storage devices, communicating with peripheral hardware - a precursor to early PC development. Through IBM, he patented a device for inkjet spraying. His 20 year service at IBM was in General Services Division, Quality Assurance Support, Research and Development. The balance of his engineering career was fulfilled at Hitachi, AIC and Wyse Technology. Lon was also a guest mathematics instructor at Fremont Unified School District. A witty linguist, Lon loved word play. He avidly read Science Fiction and had a comprehensive knowledge of European and American history. During the last 5 years, Lon engaged his mind reading multitudes of eBooks and studying mathematical theory. He adored free college internet broadcast learning courses. St. Christina of Tyre Orthodox Church was Lon Allen Hacker’s spiritual home. Lon, Denis, Craig, Kyle and Laird were the Hacker brothers. Now, Craig Hacker, newly residing in West Texas, is the sole survivor of that generation.Lon Allen Hacker is survived by his loving wife, Irene Sun Hacker, sons Philip and Matthew Hacker, and sisters-in-law Pauline Sun Tsang and Joanne Hacker, including brothers-in-law Jeffery Tsang and Bruce Prickett. Lon has numerous nephews and nieces. His family and friends will miss his intellectual discussion, wealth of knowledge and sense of humor. Visitation will be held from 5-9pm with a vigil service at 7pm on Tuesday, March 8 at St. Christina Orthodox Church, 3721 Parish Ave., Fremont, CA 94536. A funeral service will be held at 10am on Wednesday, March 9 also at the church. A burial to follow at Chapel of the Chimes Memorial Park in Hayward. In lieu of flowers, donations to St. Christina of Tyre, Orthodox Church would be gratefully accepted.

Lon Allen Hacker

December 12, 1946 - March 2, 2016