Obituary of Rudolph Albert Dehn

Rudolph Albert Dehn Schenectady - A kind,creative father, grandfather and great-grandfather who had an engineer’s eye for what needed to be done and the creativity to do it. Rudolph Albert Dehn died February 24, 2021 at 101 years, 6 months and 12 days. He was born in East Rutherford, New Jersey to Rudolf Alwin Dehn and Maria Huber Dehn on August 12, 1919. He was predeceased by his parents, his sister Gertrude, his step-mother Helen Biedermann Dehn and wife Elizabeth Turner Dehn. He is survived by his three children, Mary Dehn-Reynolds of Searsport, Maine, Alan Dehn of Scotia, and Jonathan Dehn of Damascus, Maryland, as well as four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. After graduating high school as valedictorian he earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Newark College of Engineering. He was recruited by General Electric and worked in various areas until his retirement in 1982. He was at the Radiation Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology working on microwave radar in 1941, and returned to Schenectady to help develop the microwave oven and electric knife. He was granted many patents. Rudy and Elizabeth married in 1945 and built a home by a stream in Niskayuna, on a road he named for its hickory trees, where they lived and raised their three children. The house is a testimony to the care he put into things he did with his hands. Rudy lived there for seventy five years, until his death. With his house built, he used his skills volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. An energetic hiker even in his later decades, he joined the OYKs outing club, and was a founding member of the Boquet River Lodge chapter, that later became the Schenectady chapter of the ADK. In 2013 Rudy was ADK Volunteer of the Year. His great pleasure was helping at the spring and fall Hart Lake work weekends. He was also a life long ham radio operator and original owner of call sign W2JVF. As a member of the Schenectady Amateur Radio Association (SARA) he reported local weather conditions from 1982- 2021 daily on the Capital District Weather Net . “I needed a reason to get up early.” He was strong participant in SARA field day activities and helped provide community event radio support. He volunteered with the Schenectady County Library Friends, and along with other Elfun Society members was a presenter of “Science For Kids” for the Mohawk Valley Library System. In recent years he volunteered at the Schenectady Museum of Innovation and Science sorting archival materials, despite not being old enough to have known Thomas Edison! He joined the First United Methodist Church in 1945 and was a trustee there for a number of years, which allowed him to use his construction and engineering skills to good purpose. A service will be held at a later date to be announced. Memorial donations can be made by check to the “First United Methodist Church Schenectady” with “Rudy Dehn Memorial” on the comment line, or online at https://fumcschenectady.org/blog/electronic-giving/. Memories may be shared with the family at www.jonesfh. net. Among many who made Rudy’s last years easier, the family especially wishes to thank neighbor Chris Deluke and the energetic and compassionate care givers from Home Instead.