Elmer V. Carlson

Mr. Carlson died Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003, at his home.

He was born April 29, 1919, in upper Michigan, the son of Frank and Estella (Lind) Carlson. He received an undergraduate degree from Chicago Technical College and a master’s degree from Northwestern University.

Mr. Carlson was an electroacoustic engineer and developed hearing aid improvements, astronaut communication devices and musician ear plugs. He had more than 30 patents. He was a design engineer for Shure Inc. in Evanston and later worked at Knowles Electronics for 40 years until he retired in 1997. Two years later, he returned to work as an adviser at Etymotic Research.

Survivors include his wife, Mary, of the home; three sisters, Evelyn Senecal, Lawrence, Kan., Agnes Wheeler, Plymouth, Mich., and Edna Wilson, Pontiac, Mich.; and a brother, Frank, Fort Worth, Texas.