Gustafson, 66, was computer expert, but family man first

Long before there was a PC in every home, Ken Gustafson was a computer expert.

He called himself a technology deployment specialist, his term to describe his job as a project manager for the installation of retail network equipment, his family said. When companies needed to go digital or upgrade equipment, Gustafson often was the man who did it.

Most people walk into Home Depot to look at merchandise, but he would look up at the ceiling to see how the wiring was, said Mary Lou Gustafson, Kens wife of 36 years.

He worked for Control Data for many years until the company downsized. He moved to Omaha for the job in the late 1970s.

Gustafson learned he had colon cancer about a year and a half ago, and he died Friday at his home, surrounded by family members. He was 66.

Kenneth E. Gustafson was born in Springfield, Illinois, and graduated from high school in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, where he was the salutatorian of his class. He attended Bemidji State University in Minnesota and received a bachelors degree in computer science from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

His wife and children, however, say he was way more than a computer guy.

He was a patient and gentle person who was dedicated to his family and could fix anything, they said.

When the pastor asked him what his legacy was, he said he was a family man, his wife said.

He enjoyed taking cross-country car trips with his loved ones, traveling to various national parks in California, Colorado, Utah and elsewhere. The parks were the perfect places for two of his hobbies: fly-fishing and photography.

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Gustafson, 66, was computer expert, but family man first