Paul Omohundro

A memorial service for Paul Omohundro, 89, will be at 10 a.m. Friday at FitzHenry's Carson Valley Funeral Home.

Mr. Omohundro died Dec. 1, 2004. He was born Jan. 18, 1915, in Dallas, Texas, to Paul and Mamie Omohundro. He later moved to Long Beach, Calif., where he graduated from Wilson High School.

Mr. Omohundro began his career at Vultee Aircraft in Burbank, Calif., as a pattern maker. After World War II, he started the Comet Co. in Paramount, Calif., where he contributed to the building of the Atom Bomb. In 1957, he operated the Paul Omohundro Co. in Compton, Calif., employing 500 people focusing on the aerospace industry.

In 1963, he opened the Omohundro Co. in Costa Mesa, Calif., where he pioneered the use of plastics in the aerospace industry. He moved to Bend, Ore., in 1979, after passing the business to his son. He remained active by independently developing a torpedo prop and assisting in the development of a mast company in Minden.

Among his survivors are his wife, Lois; son and daughter-in-law, Thomas and Gail; daughter and son-in-law, Bonnie and Lee; stepson and wife, Bob and Alyce Prigmore; stepdaughter Karen Graham; stepdaughter and husband Anita and Terry; eight grandchildren; one great-grandchildren; and sisters Heloise and Lucretia Lunde.

FitzHenry's Carson Valley Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.