Truman Stanley Walrod, III

Truman Stanley Walrod III signed off for the last time the evening of Dec. 27, 2018. Truman passed away after a brief illness at Providence Hospital. Truman was born on March 10, 1950, in Des Moines, Iowa, and his journey took him to Alaska in 1973, after living in South Dakota and Idaho as a boy and young man. Truman was exposed to radio and television broadcasting at a young age, as his parents were involved in that field. This sparked a lifelong interest and passion for broadcasting, as Truman as a boy was around and mentored by those in the business, including broadcast engineers and technicians. As a boy and young man he was a boy Scout and Sea Scout with many good memories of that, and attended the International Jamboree in Idaho in 1967. Truman made his life's work to be that of a broadcast engineer, later adding systems engineer to the title. He was a Life Member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. Truman began his journey in broadcasting as an 8-year-old boy, working as an assistant to the broadcast engineers at the station where his parents worked in Rapid City, S.D. From there, through the school years, he worked intermittently in the field until moving to Sitka, Alaska, in 1973, where broadcasting became his permanent occupation. He did all the jobs in a television station, from anchoring the newscast to assisting the engineer keep the transmitter on the air. At this point he realized that being a broadcast engineer was his future. From Sitka, a brief stay in Seward led to his long-time residency in Anchorage, Alaska, beginning in 1975, where he first worked for Anchorage Community College Media Services. After ACC became University of Alaska Anchorage, Media Services transitioned to that organization. Then in 1980, a visionary concept for statewide distance education came to fruition - the Learn Alaska Network. This was a major advance in telecommunications technology in which pioneering work was done to facilitate and further the state of technology to deliver television, audio and data via satellite to remote parts of the globe. Learn Alaska delivered this to every town and village in Alaska. Truman was instrumental in the development and design of this network and found great reward and satisfaction in this endeavor. Truman continued his dedicated work with Learn Alaska until its dissolution and evolution and then added systems engineering to his professional palette continuing to work with UAA Distance Education until retiring in 2001. He met and worked with many in the broadcasting community through those years. He then enjoyed retired life with his beloved cats until an opportunity arose and the yen was with him to contribute yet more, and he then worked for several years as a Flight Simulator Technician with the C-17 aircraft flight training system at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, before a second retirement in 2016. Truman is survived by his wife of 43 years, Lillian "Cindy" Walrod; and daughter, Roberta and son-in-law, Chris Gainer of Orlando, Fla.; and son, David and daughter-in-law, Cheri DeLay of Portland, Ore. He also leaves his sister, Vicki Rezac of Ft. Collins, Colo.; many grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, Truman Walrod II and Faith Mason. As well as family, Truman leaves good friends, and will be missed greatly by all. A memorial service will be held at Muldoon Road Baptist Church on Saturday, March 9, 2019, at 1500 (3 p.m.).