Edward (Ed) William Niemeyer

Edward (Ed) William Niemeyer, 80, of Chandler AZ, passed away peacefully in his home on December 6^th, 2023. 

He was born September 11^th, 1943 in Kenosha, Wisconsin and was the first-born of the three children of Alleen (Biebasheimer) and Edward Niemeyer.  He is survived by a sister, Joan Porter and brother Richard Niemeyer. 

He and his wife, Linda (Price), were married for 58 years and had 7 children:  Cathy Niemeyer-Root, Glen Niemeyer, Scott Niemeyer, Dianna Miller, Theresa Niemeyer, Stacy Truman, and Allen Niemeyer.  He and Linda have 10 grandchildren:  Cassia Kejick, Amanda Aguilar, Ashley Miller, Alyson Forte, Katherine Kasson, Evan Niemeyer, Brooke Truman, John Niemeyer, Amy Miller, and Sara Truman.

Always a self-motivated and conscientious student, he was an avid life-long learner and hungry for knowledge, specifically when it came to flight and space exploration. This love began at age five, as he witnessed a  C47 EC3 “gooney bird” plane coming in for a landing close enough for him to see each rivet and wiring bundle on its belly, inspiring him to decide that “I want to fly that someday”.  His early love further allowed him to intertwine his passion for flight and his pursuit of knowledge into a distinguished career in engineering after completing his Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. Serving in the Air Force, pursuing his education, becoming an engineer, and obtaining his pilot’s license allowed him to fulfill this childhood promise to himself of flying a gooney bird. However, he would not hesitate to share that his most cherished career accomplishment was his opportunity to work on the Viking landers.

Ed wore many titles over the course of his life: engineer, instructor pilot, manager, veteran, dog owner, friend, business owner,  brother, uncle, husband, dad, grandpa, pops, and pop-pop.  The titles he loved the most were those that equated to his role in his family as he relished in spending time with them. That time with his family included pursuits such as RVing, camping, hunting, shooting guns, flying in his plane, Alaskan cruises, walking the dogs, or assisting his children and grandchildren in Pinewood and PowderPuff Derby tournaments. He loved his family dinners and always allowed room for “one more”, welcoming anyone to dinner willing to adhere to his house rules of “1.) keeping at least one foot on the floor and 2.)recognizing that the food was not yours until it was on your plate.”  And, yes- he really did tell anyone joining for the first time that these were the rules of dinner…

During his life, he crossed off so many bucket list items, including seeing a rocket launch in person, watching Hailey’s comet, exploring the engineering marvels present in Machu Picchu and the Great Wall of China, and traveling the far reaches of the world, that “been there, done that '' became his most often uttered phrase. Ed’s wry sense of humor was always present and he enjoyed telling stories and anecdotes from his well-lived life. He will be greatly missed.

Ed attributed his life’s trajectory to the training that began at Tech High in Des Moines, Iowa during his high school years and in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to a technical training program in Ed’s name.

A Memorial Mass will be held on Monday, December 18, 2023 at 11:00 am at St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church, 3450 W. Ray Road, Chandler, AZ. Inurnment will follow at 1:00 pm at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, 23029 N. Cave Creek Road, Phoenix, AZ.