Donald Lolli

Donald W. Lolli, 67, passed away Oct. 30, 2005, at his residence in Kalispell. He was born Dec. 1, 1937, in Chicago, Ill., the son of Dorando and Lela (Breed) Lolli.

He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1955 to 1959 in the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea. In 1959, Don married Donna Bell Keeney, of Pacific Beach, Ore. Together they had three children, Denise, Darrin and Daniel. They later divorced.

Don was an electrical engineer, and a prolific product designer and developer. His designs included voice scrambler, ultrasonic leak detector, telephone open-line detector, telephone buried line finder and fault detector, power dam fault locators, seismic equipment, oil well horizontal drilling systems and cryogenic equipment. He worked for Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto, Calif., where he was involved in development of oscillators and other electronic test and measurement instruments.

In 1991, Don relocated to Whitefish where he continued to design and develop products until his death, including, in partnership with Reggie McMurdo, Groundhawgs, a mechanical driving device to simplify installation of electrical ground rods, and Travel Trac, a back-traction device; and in partnership with Jimmy Bradford and Kelly Wheeler, Airbunz, the original inflatable bicycle seat, designed and manufactured in Whitefish. His latest product, 10 Minutes Books, developed in partnership with Brett Jauhola and Reggie McMurdo, is a simplified accounting software.

He is preceded in death by his twin brother, David Lolli, his father Dorando Lolli and his sister Lela Jo Bjorde.

He is survived by his devoted wife and help mate Elizabeth A. Story, of Kalispell; his daughter Denise Lolli, of Turlock, Calif.; sons Danny and Darrin Lolli, both of Whitefish; mother Lela LeBlanc, of San Jose, Calif.; sister Barbara Lolli, of Laguna Beach, Calif.; brother G. "Bud" Lolli, of Placitas, N.M.; half brother Rus LeBlanc, of San Jose; stepbrother Jim LeBlanc, of San Jose; and stepsister Jeannette McNeal, of Bellevue, Wash.; and numerous grandchildren and relatives.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005, at 1 p.m. at Johnson Mortuary Chapel. There will be no visitation.

The family suggests that memorial contributions be sent to the Literacy Volunteers of Flathead County, 35 Fourth Street West, Kalispell MT 59901.