Cover photo for Keith Tattersall's Obituary
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Keith Tattersall

February 14, 1935 — May 8, 2024

A truly wonderful husband to Shirley of 63 years, father to Carmen (deceased) and Christy, and friend to many, peacefully passed from this earth on Wednesday May 8, 2024. He was truly loved, and will be missed very much! He is survived by his wife Shirley J. Tattersall, daughter Christy Tattersall; and brother, Norman Tattersall.

Keith Scott Tattersall, 89, of Vida, Oregon was born February 14, 1935, in Beaver, Utah to Scott Reese Tattersall and Anna Maxine Low Tattersall. He had two brothers: Richard Tattersall (deceased) and Norman Tattersall, and one sister Marilyn Tattersall Young (deceased). Keith and Shirley lived in So. California until he sold his company in 1993, and moved to Oregon to enjoy retirement while living on the McKenzie River. Keith enjoyed travelling, attending plays, playing golf, volunteering at McKenzie Track and Field, and going on fishing trips with his brother Norman, with family and friends.

Keith received a scholarship to play football at the College of Southern Utah, while pursuing his passion in theatre arts. He belonged to the Drama Club and was lead in a couple of plays. While attending CSU, he found his niche in life, mathematics, and engineering. He received an AA Degree at CSU. Then transferred to the University of Utah, continued his interest in Drama, while obtaining his BSEE Degree. Following his degree, he transferred to the UCLA graduate program in Computer Sciences.

In 1958, Keith began his professional career at a very important time in history. He worked on the guidance systems for two of America’s earliest missile and space programs. He began as a Development Engineer for America’s first operational ballistic missile, the Thor Missile Guidance System. He was also technical advisor to the Base Commander for the first missile ever launched from Vandenberg AFB.

After the completion of that project, he moved on and worked at Cape Canaveral as Program Manager on the development of the United States’, first airborne and space capable, miniaturized digital computer-controlled guidance system. This was developed for the new multistage rocket the
Atlas-Centaur, which was to be used as a launch vehicle for geostationary satellites. While working on this project, he was fortunate to watch the launch of John Glenn’s “Friendship 7” Mercury capsule, Man’s First Space Earth Orbit. This was his most memorable experience in the missile and space business.

Keith eventually moved on to become involved in the development and advances of the commercial digital computer field. He worked at various companies developing new types of computer memory systems for mainframe computers. In 1976, he decided to take advantage of the expertise he had acquired and start his own company, Amperif Corporation as the CEO and Chairman of the Board. His company invented and developed the computer industry’s first highspeed solid state mass storage system for mainframe computers. They also invented and developed the first high speed cached disk mass data storage system. After 20 years, he sold his company.

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