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Robert K. Cover, 65, died on Wednesday, August 21, 2002 at his home in Bent, NM after a brief illness. He was born in Winchester, IN, on July 3, 1937. He is the son of A.E. (Mike) and Olive Kabel Cover, formerly of Winchester, IN. He is survived by his wife, Margaret Clifton Cover of Bent, NM; sons, Nicholas of Corpus Christi, TX and Rex (wife, Sheila) of Albuquerque; daughter, Gayle of Columbus, OH; stepsons, Stefan Ikelman of Dallas, TX and Danny Ikelman of West Palm Beach, FL; brothers, John Cover (wife, Beverly) of Albuquerque and Gene Cover (wife, Linda) of Houston, TX; four grandchildren, Tiffany, Jessica, Rachel and Adam Cover; and several nephews. Bob was a graduate of Winchester High School, Class of 1955. He served in the US Army from 1955 to 1958. He received a BSEE degree from Purdue University in 1964 and was a member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu, honorary societies there. He received an MSEE at University of New Mexico and did further graduate work there. He was also a member of the Winchester Lodge #56 F&AM. While Bob was working for Sandia National Laboratories on Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque., he invented a device called the"Scanning Image Digitizer" in 1967. It was the first time that a video camera was successfully connected to a computer and converted images into a digital picture. Since Sandia is operated for the government, the patent is in public domain and the design was distributed to many companies and universities throughout the world. His device was the forerunner to many of the digital scanners. Bob was awarded the title of"Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff" in May 1985, and received an Award of Excellence from the Department of Energy in 1988. Bob remained as Chief Engineer at Sandia until 1990 and then accepted the position of Chief Scientist for Data Fusion until he retired in 1994. During his retirement he became a licensed Emergency Medical Technician for the Bent Volunteer Fire Department and worked on his ranch in Bent. There will be a Memorial Service for Bob in Ruidoso, NM at the LaGrone Funeral Chapel at 4:00 p.m. on August 23, 2002. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the American Cancer Society or National Science Foundation.
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