KLEMENT PATRICK FRANK Sept. 16, 1949 to March 14, 2003 Pat Klement, 53, passed away with his family at his side on March 14, after battling cancer for nearly 20 months. A resident of Ocean Beach since 1950, Pat attended San Diego State University where he received his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Electric Engineering. He rowed for San Diego State ' s Crew Team for three years, and continued as an adult. He also spent time hiking, backpacking, rock climbing (an amusing hobby since he had a fear of heights) and building a sailboat with friends. His first engineering job was with the Naval Electronics Laboratory in Point Loma. He also worked for a short time at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography designing underwater apparatus for biological research, before settling into an engineering career at General Dynamics Space Divison where he managed the avionics group for the Atlas Centaur rocket. When the GD divisions were sold Pat traded his career in defense for one in telecommunications, first as the manager of the technical support group for Pacific Communications Sciences Inc. (PCSI) and then as the president and CEO of Wireless Data Systems. WDS supports both AT and Lucent in their cellular networks and its employees come from GD and many other local telecom companies. They have known Pat for many years. He is survived by his wife of 21 years, Mary Klement, his sister Elaine Halliday of Mission Hills, his sister Kathy Rahilly of Pacific Beach, four nieces, one nephew and one grand niece. There will be a Memorial Service for Pat on Saturday, March 22, at noon at Sacred Heart Church in Ocean Beach, 4776 Saratoga Ave. Donations in Pat ' s name can be made to the Nature Conservancy http://nature.org/ The Nature Conservancy ' s mission is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on 3/20/2003. (volunteer submission)