Edward Pak
1946-June 19, 2018
Los Altos Hills, California

Edward Pak passed from the life he embraced with such enthusiasm on June 18, 2018 at the age of 72, surrounded by his family. He was the beloved husband of Raylene Pak, loving father to Michael (Lorraine) Pak, Melissa (Greg) Pak-Wittel and Arthur (Julie) Pak. He was the proud grandfather of Marcus Pak, Alexander Wittel, Theodore Wittel and Elliott Pak. Ed was born in China in 1946 to Wai Man and Mable Pak. He was part of a large family: Ignatius (Josie) Pak, Felix (Shar-lin) Pak, Wallace (Annie) Pak, Veronica (Geoff) Bourke, Helen (Tom) Hubbs, Jeffrey (Lorita) Pak and Sophie Pak. Ed was raised in Hong Kong where he attended Tak Sun Primary School and La Salle College. He attended McGill University briefly after immigrating to Canada. In 1968, he moved to the United States to attend California State University, Chico, earning bachelor's degrees in Math and Computer Science and a master's degree in Computer Science. He then pursued a Doctorate degree in Computer Science from Iowa State University for two years. While in Hong Kong, Ed worked in his father's import/export business. He then won a position as a ground crew member for Japan Airlines beating out several hundred other applicants. After college, Ed worked briefly for Four Phase. He then joined a startup medical ultrasound company, Diasonics, as employee number 9. After seven years there, he took his knowledge of ultrasound hardware and software to another medical startup company, Neuroscience. Next, he followed his entrepreneurial inclinations and started a consulting company, supplying hardware and his software expertise to international companies. After "retiring" from consulting, he formed a company to build a self storage facility, overseeing the construction of the facility and managing the business. His final, and longest, retirement venture was opening and operating an auto repair shop, Mechanica Automotive. Not only did Ed love to educate his customers about the workings of their cars, he also relished listening to their stories, forming many friendships with his customers. Ed was a man who deeply loved his family and believed in caring and providing for them above all else. During the holidays, Edward loved to host progressively larger parties for as many members of family and extended family as could attend. He loved all things mechanical, and enjoyed understanding what made them tick. He had a fascination with cars and worked on them most of his life. Ed also loved airplanes, traveling and seeing the world. On several occasions, he managed to combine many of the things he loved into an epic family trip that usually involved at least one car related adventure and/or visit to air museum. He enjoyed hiking and jogging. In recent years, Ed was bit by the remodeling bug and was not afraid to try anything: framing, plumbing, tiling, dry walling, cabinetry. He liked classical music and taught himself to play the piano, flute and guitar. He always seemed to know where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do in life and taught himself whatever he needed to accomplish those goals. Ed’s motto was "What is life without adventure?" and he found adventure in everything he did.