Kilpatrick, 66, Calcomp Co-Founder, Dies

Lester L. Kilpatrick, one of the founders of Calcomp and a leading figure in the Orange County business community, died April 21 of colon cancer at his home in Downey. He was 66.

Kilpatrick served as president and chairman of Calcomp from its inception in 1958 until 1977, a period in which the company grew to be the world’s leading supplier of digital plotters for computer systems. Now an Anaheim-based subsidiary of Lockheed, Calcomp is one of the largest technology firms in Orange County, with about $500 million in annual revenues and 2,650 employees.

Following his retirement from Calcomp, Kilpatrick in 1980 joined with his son Jeff to form Newport Securities, a brokerage firm specializing in local companies. He served as chairman of the firm and handled the corporate finance side of the business, Jeff Kilpatrick said, and the firm launched a mutual fund for local stocks called the Orange County Growth Fund.

Jeff Kilpatrick said his father was especially good at helping to nurture small, growing companies. “He had been there, he was a classic entrepreneur who started a company in a garage. So people (who were starting companies) seemed to respect him.”

He added that his father had few hobbies outside of business and “always showed up earlier than I did and left later than I did. But he didn’t stress himself about it--he had as much fun doing business as some guys do on the golf course.”

Lester Kilpatrick served in the Navy in World War II and subsequently received engineering degrees from Texas Tech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a pioneer in the use of computers in flight while working for the Autonetics Division of North American Aviation, now part of Rockwell International, before starting Calcomp.

Funeral services for Mr. Kilpatrick were held last week. He is survived by his wife, Mary, and sons Jeffrey and Chris.