G. William Pfeiffer passed away on November 15, 2023. Known to family and friends as Bill, he is survived by his loving wife Marilyn M. Maltby, son Michael W. Pfeiffer, and stepdaughter Julie Pritschet. He has two grandchildren, Nate Pfeiffer and Ellie Pfeiffer. Preceded in death by parents, Lorraine & Arthur Pfeiffer.
After earning his master’s degree in Physics at the University of Iowa, he started his career by joining James Van Allen’s space research group — building experiments to be flown on satellites for researching the Van Allen radiation belts. In 1972, Bill was hired by 3M for his expertise in acoustics; he was issued a patent on a combination acoustic/electronic stethoscope. He went on to 3M’s cochlear implant project. In 1989 he was assigned to Washington DC, as liaison between 3M and government agencies’ research projects. When 3M Electronic Products division in Austin TX needed a liaison between the company and partnerships with Intel and Hewlett Packard, Bill moved to Austin. He took early retirement in 2001. He spent the last years of his career at Nanopierce in Denver CO.
Bill enjoyed life as an amateur ‘ham’ radio operator, and was a whiz at electronics. In his career he built radios, antennas, equipment, and test apparatus. After retiring and moving back to Minnesota, he kept building electronic gizmos including cameras in nest boxes so Marilyn could continue bird watching closely. Bill was an accomplished woodworker, making many pieces of furniture and jewelry.
Visitation will be on Saturday December 2, 2023 at Roberts Funeral Home Inver Grove Heights from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.