Former Burien City Councilman Larry Lee Gilbert, of Union, WA, 71, died March 1 in Rancho Mirage, CA. A life remembrance ceremony will be held this summer in Union.

He also founded the Burien Computer Center.

He was born June 21, 1938, to Helen Van Zanten and Jack Gilbert in Spokane, WA. He graduated from Seattle's Lincoln High School in 1956 and went on to the University of Washington on a Carkeek Scholarship where he became a member of Sigma Xi and graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.

Also a member of ROTC, Mr. Gilbert became a U.S. Army 2nd Lt. and was stationed at the Signal School in Red Bank, N.J.

He married Anne Darden Brown in 1958 and began a career that took them back and forth across the U.S.: first to the Naval Ordnance Lab in Norco, CA; then to Sylvania in Mountain View, CA (where he attended Stanford University while working full time and earned his Masters in EE); then to Cornell Aeronautical Lab in Buffalo, NY (later known as Calspan) where he joined the Weapons Research Department and advanced to Director of the Penval Program, a long running countermeasures analysis effort for the Air Force (which included another move to San Diego, CA to establish an office and run it for 3 years) and another move back to Buffalo, NY; then again to the Bay Area to work for SRI International in Menlo Park, CA where he was Director of the Systems Evaluation Center and headed the electronic warfare consulting program for the development of the then highly classified B-2 Stealth Bomber.

Mr. Gilbert returned to his hometown of Seattle with a job at Boeing from which he retired in 1994.

In retirement, while living at Three Tree Point, Mr. Gilbert was elected to a seat on the Burien City Council where he greatly enjoyed the challenges of economic development and was instrumental in establishing the Burien Community Computer Center at 653 S.W. 152nd Street.

He was also a member of Acacia Fraternity and a Life Master of Duplicate Bridge. He became a certified director of duplicate bridge games and taught and conducted games on various cruise ships throughout his retirement.

In 2004, Mr. Gilbert and his wife, Anne built a home in the Alderbrook Yacht and Golf Community overlooking the 14th tee, where they enjoyed their time together golfing, traveling worldwide, gardening, genealogy, being on or near the water, and keeping up with friends made over the years.

In 2008, the couple celebrated their Golden Anniversary in Bodega Bay, CA, with their children and grandchildren gathered together.

Mr. Gilbert is survived by his wife Anne; their sons Brian R. D. Gilbert (and wife Lynn) of Irvine, CA, and Todd S. Hunter-Gilbert (and wife Denise) of Woodbridge, VA; and their grandchildren, Quinn D. Hunter-Gilbert and Helen C.D. Gilbert. He is also survived by three siblings: Bruce Gilbert of Shelton, WA; Jim Gilbert of Seattle, WA; and Charles (Chuck) Gilbert (and wife Lou Ann) of Seattle, WA.