Former Malibu resident Clinton J. Ancker Jr. recently died. He was 88.
Ancker was born in 1919 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He graduated from Purdue University in 1940 and served five years in the U.S. Army. He left the service as a captain having served during World War II with the artillery in the Pacific.
Ancker taught engineering at UC Berkeley for eight years while at the same time pursuing a doctorate in engineering mechanics at Stanford. He worked in the field of operations research for many years at the Johns Hopkins Applied Research Center in Washington D.C., and later at Systems Development Corporation in Santa Monica. Ancker spent a year in Washington as director of the National Highway Safety Institute. The following 16 years, he taught and served as chairman of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at USC. He retired from USC in 1984 as professor emeritus.
Ancker and his wife, Margaret Rees Ancker, lived in Malibu for 46 years, where he was active in local politics. They left Malibu for Palo Alto two years ago.
Ancker is survived by his wife of 61 years; his children, Col. Clinton J. Ancker III, Evan Ancker and Dr. Megan Ancker Bowles and five grandchildren. His son, Scott Ancker, preceded him in death.