Jon was born on March 22, 1941 in Pasadena, California to Bernard and Veda Bolstad, the third of five children. As a child the family moved several times and he and his older brother, Bruce, helped their dad to build all of the family's homes in Pasadena, California; Meridian, ID; Farmington, NM; and Chico, CA. In 1958, he graduated from Chico High School and continued on to college at Chico State, where he graduated with a degree in Physics in 1962. Right out of college, he worked as a civil servant for the US Navy, doing R&D at the Naval Weapons Center in Southern CA. He worked at a series of jobs in Pasadena, California, all involved with government contractual electro-optical R&D work.
In May of 1970, through mutual friends he met his wife, Maud, who had come to the US from Sweden to work as a nanny. He liked to call her his "Strawberry Maud". Maud’s visa lasted only a year, so after six months she returned to Sweden. Jon went to visit her so they could travel around Europe, later returning to the US and they eventually married on November 21, 1972 in San Pedro, CA. They lived in Santa Ana, CA for 2 years, then moved to the Phoenix area where Jon worked for Motorola and their daughter Kari was born in June of 1975. He then got a job with Lockheed Martin in the Bay Area and they moved to San Jose in June 1977, where their daughter Heidi was born in March of 1978.
In April 1980, Jon moved the family to Idaho Falls, taking a job with EG&G at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory doing electro-optical R&D for nuclear power research. While there he invented a product and gained support to start his own company, Control Vision Inc., in 1986. Using his knowledge of military surveillance systems and welding research from past jobs, he developed a system including laser-equipped cameras, which provides welders with detailed, undistorted views of what is happening under the torch. When interviewed for an article in the Idaho Falls Post Register, he stated “Much of the technology (from previous work) had destructive purpose. I wanted to work on something with constructive purpose.” Control Vision had customers all over the world, including Fortune 500 companies, research facilities and even Lockheed Martin, who used their system in welding the external fuel tanks for space shuttles. He won a prestigious I-R 100 award as a "Significant New Technology Product of the year" in 1986, an award in 1991 from the Japan Industrial Robot Association, and a National Tibbetts award from the U.S. Small Business Administration in 1996, among others. Control Vision remained small, but Jon ran a successful business for 20 years and today it is carried on by Dan Crawford, who grew up down the street in Idaho Falls from Jon and his business partner Thad Hoffman. He currently operates Control Vision Inc. from Tuscon, AZ.
Moving to Idaho allowed them to enjoy their love for the outdoors with their daughters by camping, hiking, fishing, and cross country skiing. In 2004, Jon retired and he and Maud moved to Meridian to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Jon was very creative and intellectual and enjoyed sharing his opinion on a range of topics through his many, many Letters to the Editor for the Idaho Falls Post-Register. In fact, in 2000, he was invited to participate in the Readers Advisory Board, which allowed him a regular outlet to express himself. Jon was always interested in other cultures and loved to travel. He and Maud travelled the US and the world including trips to Australia, China, Morocco, Costa Rica, Mexico, Sweden and three cruises to Alaska, Panama Canal and around Europe.
He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Mavis Friday, and has gone to be with them. He is survived by his wife Maud of Meridian and two daughters Kari Kuglin and Heidi Hagman (Mike), both of Boise. He has three wonderful grandchildren Hailee Kuglin, Ben Hagman, and Brooke Hagman. He is also survived by his siblings Bruce Bolstad of Caldwell, ID; Leona Greenlaw of Atlanta, GA; Alice (Bob) Campbell of Inyokern, CA; and fourteen nieces and nephews.
His family would like to express a heartfelt thank you to United Hospice in Meridian for 11 months of wonderful support and care, especially Tammy, Heather, Nikki, Amber, Crystle, A’Channa, and Dana. We also sincerely thank Stephanie and Katelyn with Homewatch CareGivers, and all the wonderful people at Marquis Care Shaw Mountain Skilled Nursing facility for his final care.
A celebration of Jon’s life will be held on Saturday, May 19th at 11:00 at Eastwind Community Church in Boise. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to fundraising efforts in his name to find a cure for PSP: http://www.gofundme.com/e205s
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