Obituary of Stephen D. Bristow

Stephen D. (Steve) Bristow, 65 of Los Altos Hills, Ca., passed away following a brief illness Sunday, surrounded by his family. Steve was born in Oakland, Ca. and raised in Vallejo, Ca. He graduated Vallejo High School in 1968 and attended University of California Berkley where he graduated at the top of his class with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1973. He later went on to receive a masters degree in Engineering from the University of Santa Clara. Steve started his career as one of the co founders of Atari where he was Vice President of Engineering for many years. Steve was part of the team behind Atari that brought games to millions of homes all over the world. He was also involved with many other start-up companies in the Silicon Valley in the fields of electronic gaming, telecommunications and blue tooth technologies. He has been named an inventor in over 17 patents and is recognized as an engineering expert who has testified before congress and in a number of federal courts. Steve had many passions and interest in life. He was a volunteer judge at the Santa Cruz County Science Fair and IEEE young peoples engineering competitions. He loved to fly and has piloted his own plane for many years. He also loved to sail, travel and participate in the Arts, Theater and Music. Steve was preceeded in death by his parents, Judge John W. Bristow and Jeannette (Jan) Bristow, and very recently his brother Robert (Bob) Bristow. He was truly a good, decent man who loved his family and took incredible care of them. He is survived by his wife of 42 years , Patricia (Pati) Bristow, his daughter Kate (Toy) Griffin, 2 grandchildren, Mackenzie and Mathew, his brother, John (Bea) Bristow and Sister Lisa (Wes) Moffett along with numerous nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held Sunday, March 1st at 2:00pm at Christ Episcopal Church, 1040 Border Rd, Los Altos, CA, 94024. A reception will follow at the church hall. Donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, or Hope Technology School (Palo Alto).




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