Robert Graham Mende

Robert "Bob" Graham Mende, Jr. passed away suddenly on January 24, 2018 at his home in Santa Cruz. He was 52. Bob was born on January 8, 1966 in New Jersey, the son of Robert Graham Mende, Sr. and Joan Barbara Tamlyn Mende. He grew up in Morristown, New Jersey and earned a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey. He began his career as a systems programmer at Rutgers University. He later moved to California where he worked as a software engineer for Silicon Graphics, Mirapoint, TellMe, Microsoft, Google and Niantic. Bob was one of the originators of Lavarand, a hardware random number generator, for which he held a patent. Bob loved the outdoors. He enjoyed skiing, snowboarding and visiting National Parks. He also enjoyed reading science fiction novels and watching science fiction movies. He loved to play Ingress and Pokemon Go with friends and colleagues. He also loved road trips with his family. His son Liam was his love! He is survived by his wife of 10 years, Catherine "Kitty" Russell Mende; son, Liam James Mende; sister, Lisa Mende Senos; sister in law, Elizabeth Marie Russell and nephew, Patrick Gray Russell. He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert G. Mende, Sr. and Joan Tamlyn Mende. A memorial service will be held at Loma Prieta Playfield Gazebo and Redwood Grove 23845 Summit Rd., Los Gatos, CA, on Saturday Feb. 3 beginning at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers contributions are preferred to the Sempervirens Fund (sempervirens.org), 419 South San Antonio Rd., Ste. 211, Los Altos, CA 94022-3640.