Victor Isaac Neeley III, PhD. After a long and courageous 10 year battle with prostate cancer, Victor ?Vic? Isaac Neeley III, PhD. age 75, passed way September 26, 2006, at University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. He was born on November 5, 1930 to Victor I. Neeley II and Myrtle E. Blakestead Neeley Tollefson. He was also raised by step-father Luther Tollefson. He is survived by his wife of 52 wonderful years Dorothy D. McCullough Neeley, 2 Daughters Brenda K. Neeley of Walla Walla, Linda M. Neeley Hernandez of Kennewick and Husband Jim Hernandez, 2 Grandsons Chris M. Rose Brenda?s son of Pasco and J.R. Samson Linda?s son of Seattle. He is preceded in death by his parents and step-father, and Son Jeffery B. Neeley who passed away October 12, 2005. Vic was a wonderful, caring, devoted husband and father. His family was the most important thing to him. He had a brilliant mind, a loving heart, and a fondness for chocolates, flaky pastries and his wife?s fabulous cooking. Victor was born in Bell, California, but spent most of his childhood on a dairy farm in St. Ansgar, Iowa. In 1949, Vic graduated from St. Ansgar High School and then attended St. Olaf College, Iowa, through a football scholarship. He was studying to become a minister. He joined the Navy in 1950 and after only 4 years of service, he was ranked Navy Sonar man Second Class E5. He spent his tour of duty on the U.S.S. Ingersoll during the Korean War. In 1954, shortly after serving in the Navy, he met and married his soul mate Dorothy and remained married for 52 wonderful, romantic years. He often whispered a special poem to his wife, ?A thousand Poets dreamed for a thousand years? then they made you!? Vic and Dorothy?s loving relationship is what romance novels strive to re-create. They were inseparable, always holding hands, shared life-long dreams and passionate kisses. Vic and Dorothy traveled from St. Paul, Minnesota to Richland, Washington in 1957 with their 1 ½ year old daughter Brenda, to finish up his Master?s Degree in Physics from the University of Idaho while working for the General Electric Co. Their second daughter Linda, was born in 1959 in Richland. Vic then moved his family to Eugene, Oregon, where he earned his PhD degree in Physics from the University of Oregon. Their son, Jeff, was born in Eugene in 1962. After Vic graduated in 1964, the family moved back to Kennewick. They had intended on only living in the ?desert? in eastern Washington for a short time as he worked for GE and then Battelle Pacific NW Laboratory, but they ended up living in the Tri-Cities for over 50 years. Vic advanced rapidly in his position as scientist with the General Electric Co. and when the Laboratories were taken over by Battelle Memorial Institute to form Battelle Northwest, Vic entered management first as a unit manager and then at the Department level in Applied Physics and Engineering. In 1969, Vic left Battelle and was one of the initial founders of a private engineering company that became Holosonics, Inc. Here Vic was a principal technical leader in a variety of advanced technology applied to geological applications, industrial testing and medical imaging. Vic was the lead person on contracts that took him to mapping of ore viens in deep mining applications to detecting tunnels beneath the Demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. Most of Vic?s technical work during this time was for the development of advanced imaging systems for industrial and medical applications based on the development of the science of acoustical holography. Part of this technology is used to this day in most every pregnancy to image the baby. Vic has authored many technical articles and has authored 3 patents. Following Holosonics, Vic worked for Sigma Research and in 1984 he started his own company, VinTek Inc. Within his company Vic developed equipment and processes to assist industry, primarily the public utility industry. Among other new product developments, Vic developed a Wedge Tightness Detector for determining the stability and tightness of the wedges in the rotors of large turbines within dams. This product was produced in Richland and is still widely used. Vic had great joy in involving his children in all of his company operations. Despite all of Vic?s accomplishments and inventions, he remained humble, but he was always eager to share his knowledge with those who asked. Over 38 years ago, he and his family began building a beautiful cabin at Spout Springs, Oregon. They spent the first few summers clearing the land and constructing the cabin from the ground up, and then they spent many memorable weekends having fun and relaxing in the mountains. There are so many wonderful memories of delicious meals, Happy Hours, Oktoberfests, skiing, snowmobiling, riding 4-wheelers and picking wild mushrooms and huckleberries. They also enjoyed many adventures on the Oregon coast and especially enjoyed crabbing near Manzanita with his children and grandsons. Vic and Dorothy built a truly unique and beautiful home in 1976. They lived there for 30 years. The family also created Neeley & Son vineyard which continues to produce Riesling and Chardonnay grapes. Vic and Dorothy enjoyed traveling all over the world together. Business trips, Elderhostel adventures and a few trips to Arizona in their beautiful motor home kept them very busy. Vic had just recently retired and they also recently sold their house. They then moved into their motor home to become ?Snowbirds? and had planned on spending their winters in Arizona and summers at the cabin until Vic?s health suddenly deteriorated. Dorothy will be staying with her daughter Linda and her husband Jim in Kennewick. In 2003, Vic became a member of the Elks B.P.O.E. in Kennewick. He was also a member of the VFW in Richland, Washington. Vic touched a lot of lives around the world and will be sorely missed. We are also honored that Victor, as a Veteran, will have a burial site at the St. Louis National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. In memory of Victor, donations may be made to the Cancer Society.