Engebretson, A. Maynard, May 13, 2025. He was 90 years old. Maynard was born on a
turkey farm in Litchfield, Minnesota on June 17, 1934.

Maynard attended the University of Minnesota where he met his beautiful wife,
Marianne. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1956. He married
Marianne later that year on December 22, 1956, in Edina, Minnesota. He began his career
in 1958 at McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, Missouri.

Maynard started as a graduate student in 1959 at Washington University in St. Louis. He
earned a master’s degree in 1966, and a Doctor of Science degree in electrical engineering
in 1970. For his master’s thesis, he designed and built the HAVOC computer, a special
purpose computer that was used to measure brain waves in infants and assess their
hearing. Maynard was the first engineering student at Washington University to attend one
year of medical school to study hearing and deafness.

He joined the faculty of Washington University as an associate professor of electrical
engineering in the Department of Speech and Hearing. He also worked with the
Biomedical Computer Laboratory and the Central Institute for the Deaf. Throughout the
1980s, he was part of a small team that invented the first practical, wearable, and fully
digital hearing aid. The team’s patent, filed in 1984, serves as the basis of all fully digital
hearing aids filed subsequently by manufacturers, including those still produced today. In
the 1990s, he worked on digital signal processing. He was a senior research associate in
the Applied Research Laboratory within the Department of Computer Science at
Washington University until his retirement in 2000.

Maynard had many passions and talents outside of his research. He was active in the
University City community in the 1960s and 1970s. He designed and helped build the
Pershing Community Center and Day Care. He was also one of the leaders of Boy Scout
Troop 127 and Pershing Cub Scouts.

He enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren at Innsbrook. He even built a track for his
grandkids to build and race edible racecars made from items like apples, carrots, and
celery.

Maynard was both very resourceful and a great problem solver. He attempted to solve a
particularly vexing engineering problem by adding dried chicken bones to his toolbox. He
once fixed a leaky washing machine with chewing gum.

Maynard had a lifelong love for music. He played snare drum in the Litchfield Drum and
Bugle Corp., the Hamm’s Brewery Drum and Bugle Corp., and the Minnesota Football Marching Band. He thrilled his mother by playing the solo tympani part in a high school orchestra performance of Stormy Weather. He continued playing the drums into his 80s.

Over the years, Maynard spent a lot of time in the woodshop, making many bird houses,
chairs, toys, etc. He also made award medallions for many family Brew-Off competitions.

Maynard was a ham radio operator for many years. His call sign KC0UEE is now a silent
key.

Maynard is survived by his four children Eric (Laura) Engebretson, Susan (Chuck) Bies,
Marcia (Ken Bowen) Sorensen and Nancy (Fredy) Herz; his nine grandchildren Jason (Katie)
Engebretson, Brian Bies, Katie (Charlie Johnson) Bies, Emily (Chris) McDermott, Erika
(Frank Silliman) Sorensen, Erin (Kane) Anderson, Stephanie, Jessica (Stephan Kuny) and
Alison Vogler; and his nine great-grandchildren Aurin Vogler, Nathan and Ellie Engebretson,
Soren, Wesley and Evelyn McDermott, Oliver and Lucy Anderson and Aksel Bies
Johnson. Beloved brother to Marvin Engebretson.

Maynard is preceded in death by his beloved wife of 60 years, Marianne W. Engebretson
and his grandson Grady Scott Wilson Engebretson.

Maynard will be dearly missed by his family and all who knew him. There will be a
celebration of life at Friendship Village Chesterfield, Missouri on Sunday, May 25th at
2:00p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to Maynard’s favorite charity: Sutter Presbyterian
Church Christmas Fund c/o Reverend McConkey, 3500 Fee Fee Road, Bridgeton, MO
63044.