Dear William (and Daniel, Catherine, Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

The other day I introduced you to my Father’s Resume from 1963. At that time, your Great-Grandfather was working at Ammann & Whitney. Some time after that, my Dad got a job at Strobel & Rongved, Consulting Engineers, in New York City (on 41st Street, across the street from the N.Y.C. Main Public Library).

There, my Dad convinced his employers to invest in him, and fund a new venture — Electronic Calculus, Inc.

Electronic Calculus, Inc. was organized on January 4, 1966 and commenced operations in April, 1966. It had been engaged in the business of offering to its customers the capabilities of over fifty computer programs devised to solve complex structural engineering, analytical and design problems.

ECI’s shareholders (as of February 24, 1976) were: Peter A. Strobel (29%); Dr. Paul I. Rongved (15%); George Kostro, P.E. (24%); Ronald Erickson (15%); Dr. Semith S. Tezcan, P.E., M.ASCE (10%); Paul J. Foont (4%); Gulf (2%); and Maciunas (2%).

ECI’s executive offices were located at 57 West 57th Street; and then 468 Park Avenue South, New York City.

In 1970, the firm attempted to issue common shares to the public (that effort failed, however, when the stock market turned sour). [William — in 1970, the U.S. fell into recession, and for more than a decade, the economy and the stock market languished; actually, the stock market anticipated the 1970 recession somewhat, and, after peaking in December 1968, experienced a long decline after that — it was just bad luck for my Dad.]

[P.S. William — to understand the “Real vs. Nominal” graph on the right, you may want to check out this explanation. Love.]

Here is a copy of the cover page of the January 9, 1970 issue of the Securities and Exchange Commission News Digest:

When the public offering failed to bring in new capital, the firm continued to function, struggling sometimes, under my Dad’s leadership, until his unexpected death on July 11, 1984.

Here is a copy of a Sales Brochure that Electronic Calculus, Inc. published in 1972:

The “UCC” seen on top-left of the first page of the Sales Brochure refers to University Computing Company (UCC), which was founded in 1963, and provided computer services on an UNIVAC 1108 computer (state of the art at that time) to engineers, scientists, and researchers.

William, your Great-Grandfather was a dreamer — he loved the future; I hope that you will also.

Love,

Dziadziuś Paweł.

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