Co-founder of chip-making firm

Ed Turney, 79, a co-founder of semiconductor manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices Inc., died Wednesday at a retirement home in Cupertino from brain cancer, according to his brother George Turney.

Turney’s first jobs at the Sunnyvale-based company -- founded in 1969 -- included buying equipment and overseeing construction of the company’s first chip factory. He also built a sales organization and developed a network of electronics distributors.

He was born March 26, 1929, in Brooklyn, N.Y., where as a child he sold pretzels on the streets. After high school, Turney joined the Navy, serving in the Korean War, and trained as an electronics technician.

He worked at Fairchild Semiconductor before helping found AMD. He left AMD in 1974, two years after its initial public offering. He went on to work for smaller semiconductor manufacturing and distribution companies, and served as a consultant to start-ups.