By Capi Lynn
Statesman Journal
Denys Overholser can talk about it now. He can wax poetic about calculating radar cross-sections and designing faceted surfaces that deflect radar waves, techniques he used 40 years ago to pilot a breakthrough in stealth technology.

Overholser was a member of Skunk Works, the legendary band of scientists and engineers who worked on top secret projects for Lockheed Martin.

“When I went to work there, I found those people were all brilliant,” said Overholser, a graduate of Dallas (Oregon) High School and Oregon State University. “They were just off the edge, the finest minds in aerospace, in each discipline, all in one group. I thought, ‘Holy smoke, if they figure out what I don’t know, I’m history.’ ”

It was because of what he did know that Lockheed lured him away from Boeing, where he was hired after graduating from college in 1962 with degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics. He worked in systems engineering missile projects at Boeing and was singled out from 1,500 engineers to get computer training that would later make him invaluable to Skunk Works.

Overholser grew up in Dallas. His family moved there from California when he was 5. His father, Dale, was an electrician and his mother, Janet, an elementary school teacher. Denys was a smart child, but didn’t always apply himself.

“I was actually not very serious about school,” he said during a phone interview from his home in Carson City, Nevada. “I just knew what I could do to get by.”

He wrestled in high school and in college and although he claims he wasn’t a standout, the Oregon Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame will present him the Outstanding American from the State of Oregon Award on April 30 at a banquet in Tigard, Oregon.

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