The co-founder of chip manufacturing company AMD, who was responsible for building the company’s first sales team, died on Wednesday in Cupertino California at the age of 79.

Mr. Turney’s Brother George Turney, released in a statement that the cause of death was brain cancer. Born March 26, 1929 to Edwin and Rose Turney, Mr. Turney joined the United States Navy upon graduating high school. He trained as an electronics technician and served in the Korean War. He is survived by his brother.

Following his meeting with Jerry Sanders, a salesman for Fairchild Semiconductor, Mr. Turney, who originally sold pretzels on the streets of Brooklyn as a child, began his career in the chip industry in 1963. He and Sanders worked together with six other executives, and founded Sunnyvale California based company, AMD. Turney took an active role in the overseeing the construction of AMD’s first factory.

Turney left AMD in 1974, two years after the company had gone public. He went on to work for a smaller semiconductor manufacturing and distribution company. In his later years he was a consultant to firms trying to get started or funded.