William Lewis (Lew) Sircin

ECE Mourns Passing of Long Time Employee Lew Sircin

Sept. 18, 2006 - The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering mourns the passing of long time colleague and close friend William Lewis (Lew) Sircin. Lew served as a technician in the ECE Department for over 30 years. He had advanced to the position of Master Technician based on his expertise and “can do” attitude.

Lew was born in a small town in Wyoming that strattled the Wyoming and Nebraska border. During the World War II years he lived in Laramie. He spent many of his early years working with his father and uncle building and repairing homes. He returned to the Laramie area in the late 1970’s when he was hired by the ECE Department. Lew joined the department after serving as a radar and radio technician with the U.S. Army at White Sands Missile Range in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He also worked for the First Alert Company in Denver developing circuit boards and testing techniques for smoke detectors. Aside from his work experience, Lew attended Scottsbluff Community College and also the Denver Institute of Technology.

Lew was a department mainstay. He was always the first to arrive every morning to have coffee and the “Branding Iron” waiting for his colleagues. Lew spent most of his time working shoulder-to-shoulder with students on senior design projects. He provided them invaluable practical advice, design assistance, and was the expert on printed circuit board layout and fabrication. Lew will be remembered for always putting students first. He was always upbeat and ready to lend a helping hand to students and colleagues.

Away from work Lew enjoyed photography, writing poetry, and was also known to try his hand at homemade beer and dandelion wine. Lew’s true passion was Nebraska Cornhusker football. He had been a Big Red fan all of his life and was especially attached to the Dr. Tom Osborne years of Nebraska football. In fact, the only time Lew was grumpy was when Big Red was not doing well.

Lew is survived by his wife Paula and sons William and David. Lew was very proud of his family and their accomplishments.

“Good bye dear friend. You will be sorely missed by your friends of the ECE Department. We will miss your late Friday afternoon “Safety Meetings” when we shared friendship and fellowship after a long week at work.”

The ECE Department is hosting a memorial picnic in Lew’s honor in late September.