George William McDonough

George William McDonough passed away on September 28, 2023, leaving a legacy that will be cherished and remembered. George grew up in Kingston, NY. He went to St. Bonaventure University in Olean, NY where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics. He received his Master of Science in Physics from Syracuse University the following year. George then played football for a year with the Pittsburg Steelers before accepting a job as staff physicist with the NBS Diamon Ordinance Fuse Labs in 1956. Dedicated to his country, George served honorably in the United States Army Artillery at the close of the Korean War. George moved to California, joined IBM and worked there until his retirement in 1993. He was the architect of a completely automated thin film disk manufacturing line. He was responsible for moving the process into manufacturing. This produced the first thin film memory disk. (CD, DVD …) While at IBM he received: IBM Patent for dual sided sputter deposition in 1980 IBM People Management Award for building the staff for the development of process tooling for current thin film disk process. This team had the highest morale index of any in the IBM Company in 1982. IBM Outstanding Achievement Award for the implementation of Thin Film Disk Sputtering System in 1988. Named individually as the IBM Center-of-Competence for the IBM corporate disk sputtering equipment in 1987 until he retired. In 1995 George moved to Colorado and worked at Advanced Energy Industries until his retirement in 2009. There he built the on-site applications lab responsible for creating solutions for customers’ unique specific problems and resulting in the possibility of a new product for AE. While with AE he was awarded four patents in the area of power supply development, process development and instrumentation. George was known for his dedication and hard work. His warm-hearted nature was a source of boundless friendship and love. George was an avid football fan and enjoyed fishing, hiking and traveling. He dearly loved his dogs. George was a devout Catholic and always active in his local parish, the last St. John’s in Loveland, CO. He is lovingly remembered by his sons Ken McDonough, Vince McDonough, Charlie McDonough, Bill McDonough, George McDonough and Chris McDonough. His daughter Nancie Shambo preceded him in death as did his brother Joseph McDonough. He is survived by his sister-in-law Carolee McDonough. George is also survived by ten grandchildren: Daniel McDonough; David McDonough, Jack McDonough; Nick Hosino, Daniel Shambo; Chaz, James, Violet and Nitelyn McDonough and Christoper McDonough Jr. George will be celebrated with full military honors at Fort logan National Cemetery at a future date. The family wishes to express their deep gratitude for the outpouring of love and support from friends and from the staff of Sunrise at Orchard in Littleton. His legacy will continue to inspire, and his memory will be a source of strength and love.