Seaba, Peter Jay

Peter Jay Seaba of Iowa City left us Sunday morning, Sept. 30, 2012, following a very brief acute illness.

He was born in Sigourney, Iowa, on Oct. 20, 1944, and raised under the loving nurture of his father, John Gus Seaba, and mother, Eva Florence Michel Seaba, and many aunts and uncles. He maintained strong emotional ties with the community. He recently attended his 50th class reunion and arranged for ‘Elvis' to entertain his classmates.

Following graduation from Sigourney Public Schools he attended the University of Iowa and received bachelor and master degrees in 1967 and 1968 respectively in electrical engineering. His first electrical engineering position was with the Division of Electroencephalography at the University of Iowa. In 1968-1969, he was employed at the National Security Agency, Department of Defense, Fort Mead, Md., where he developed a long-standing interest in cryptology. He returned to Iowa and again was an electrical engineer for the Electroencephalography (EEG) Laboratory, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. From 1985 to 1991, he was employed as a product manager for electroencephalographic instruments at Nicolet and Biologic Systems Corp. In 1991, he returned to his most rewarding work in the Division of Clinical Electrophysiology at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. His position concerned the design, construction and maintenance of instruments and networks used in both research and clinical EEG and electromyography. An appreciable amount of his time was devoted to designing and teaching electronics and instrumentation courses for EEG technologists. His long standing association with EEG technologist education began in 1966 when he assisted teaching electronics and instrumentation as part of the first EEG Technologist Training Course at the University of Iowa.

In the early to mid-1980s, he participated in drafting and acceptance of the International Electrotechnical Commission performance standard for electroencephalographs. The proceedings took place in Finland, Switzerland, Russia, and the U.S. Peter took great pride in this work and thrived on global travel.

Peter delivered many presentations about electrical safety, instrumentation and signal processing. He published in these areas and contributed to the instrumentation section of research publications with physician colleagues. Twice he won The Maureen Berkeley Award for the most outstanding educational article in electroneurodiagnostic technology.

He met his wife, Hazel Marine Hilton Seaba, in graduate school at Iowa. They were married in Pentwater, Mich., in 1968. Together they enjoyed traveling, gardening and time with friends.

Peter had several consummate passions: photography, collecting and restoring early radios and genealogy. He was active in a local antique radio club and both the state and the Iowa City Genealogy Society. He developed extensive records of his family tree members, maintained many correspondences and delighted in sharing information.

Peter was known for his optimism and good humor. He was a thoughtful, loving man. His tenacity in remaining intellectually and physically active despite years of Parkinson's disease and osteoporosis was remarkable and admired by everyone.

He is survived by his wife, Hazel; his son, Louis Philip Seaba; his sister-in-law, Mary Jo Seaba; her four children, John, James (Nancy), Bruce (Lisa) Seaba and Kathryn Beck; his mother-in-law, Dorothy Hilton; and brothers- and sisters-in-law, Frank (Fern) Hilton, Nancy (Steve) Mustaikis, Leonard (Annette) Hilton, Ralph (Jean) Hilton, Mark (Patrice) Hilton, Wendy (John) Tiles and Larry Hilton.

Peter was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, James Patrick Seaba.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at Lensing Funeral Service, 605 Kirkwood Ave., Iowa City, with lunch to follow.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Keokuk County Historical Society, PO Box 123, Sigourney, IA 52591. Peter was a strong supporter of heritage preservation.

Online condolences may be directed to www.lensingfuneral.com

Published Oct. 4, 2012 in The Gazette