Obituary of Albert Kenneth Aberle

Albert Kenneth Aberle 1924-2014 Albert Kenneth Aberle had several loves in his life. His first love was his wife. Soon after returning home from four years of combat duty in the Navy, Al went on an Independence Day blind date with a nineteen-year-old college student in 1946. Marian Allocca was taking summer courses at Columbia University and was working a part-time summer job as a front desk clerk at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan. After enjoying the fireworks over the Atlantic Ocean at Jones Beach, it did not take very long for Al to know what to do. Al proposed to Marian on their next date, and Marian accepted. Marian continued her education at the City University of New York; Al earned a degree in electrical engineering from New York University. Commemorating their first date, the two wed in New York City on July 4, 1948 continuing their romance and beginning over six decades of marriage. Marian and Al celebrated their 66th anniversary on Independence Day this month. Al's first love led to his second love. Al loved his children and wanted his children to have a better childhood than he experienced growing up in the midst of the depression. Although he rarely spoke about his childhood and was reluctant to discuss the obstacles he faced growing up, later in his life he could be prodded to discuss his childhood with his wife and children. Al was familiar with hard times as a child. When his father lost his job with a failed New York bank in the early years of the Great Depression, his family felt the worst effects of the near-collapse of the American economy. He remembered waiting in bread lines when his father was unemployed. One Christmas, he recalled, his family spent a Christmas without electricity— only a neighbor generously routing an extension cord on Christmas Eve in 1933 to light up a giftless Christmas tree gave a measure of joy to what Al described as the the low point in his childhood. Al remembered moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, each time being moved to a different school. Despite these difficulties, Al nonetheless always valued education and hard work. He managed to get himself admitted to Aviation High School at 223 East 63rd Street in Manhattan. While Pearl Harbor interrupted his education—Al left high school and joined the Navy while he was still a high school student—he knew that education and hard work was still then a key to a better life for himself and his family. After the war, the GI Bill gave Albert the opportunity to pursue an engineering degree. He ultimately moved his family to Charlottesville, Virginia, where he and Marian raised their five children and attempted to create an environment in which they would all thrive. He encouraged all to ultimately choose their own path and to choose an education that fit their goals. His wife Marian shared Al's belief in education. She was a teacher, who enjoyed a 58-year career, teaching in New York, Charlottesville, and South Central Los Angeles. Together they sought to provide the best environment possible for each of their five children. Albert is survived by his wife Marian and all five children (and their spouses): Robert Kenneth (Christina), now the chair of the Criminal Justice department at College of Southern Nevada; Richard Emil (Torunn), an English professor at the State University of New York; Christopher Albert, (Christie) an attorney in New Orleans; Merri Aberle Proffitt (Robert), an executive at Domino's Corporation ; and Jonathan Andrew (Kelli), an engineer at Apple. Al's third love was the engineering and the sea. Only weeks after the Japanese bombing of the American fleet in Hawaii, the seventeen-year-old volunteered for service in the United States Navy. Al was trained in navigation and was responsible for the ship gyrocompass. He was assigned to service on the USS Henrico, an attack transport that was used to transport troops for amphibious landings. Al served in on the ship in the Mediterranean, transporting troops to and from North Africa, Italy, and Southern France. On June 5, 1944, the Henrico left Portland, England headed for France as part of the first wave of troop landings at Normandy the following day. Al participated in the D-Day invasion as part of Admiral Hall's initial flotilla of ships at Omaha Beach. Under heavy fire, the Henrico landed troops on the Normandy shore and then picked up casualties for the return to England. Shortly after the Normandy invasion, Al sailed on the Henrico through the Panama Canal to prepare for a potential invasion of Japan. The Henrico landed troops at the invasion of Okinawa on March 26th 1945. The Henrico was under repeated attack during the fighting at Okinawa. Finally on April 2, 1945, a Japanese Kamikaze struck the Henrico, destroying the superstructure and killing 49 sailors, including the ship's captain and most of the officers. Al was part of the crew that brought the ship fire under control and then successfully attempted to salvage the ship. Al had to reconstruct a severely damaged gyrocompass so that the ship could sail out of the South Pacific and be returned to San Francisco for repairs. Al received six medals for service in Europe and the Pacific, and then received a seventh medal in France on the sixtieth anniversary of the Normandy invasion. He was honorably discharged from service in 1946. Al's experience with gyrocompasses and ship navigation led to a lifetime of work on inertial navigations systems for ships and submarines. After completing his engineering degree, Al worked as an electrical engineer for Sperry Rand Corporation, in their marine navigation systems. Al holds a number of patents for gyro-systems and contributed to numerous others as inertial navigation and fire-control systems became increasingly sophisticated. After working for Sperry Rand Corporation, Al took an executive engineering position with another defense contractor, Litton Industries in California, and moved to Southern California. After living in Malibu, California, Al and Marian finally settled in Las Vegas, Nevada where they have lived for the past 23 years. Al passed away peacefully on July 5, 2014. He was 90 years old. In addition to his wife and children, his youngest brother Jean Aberle, and his sister Helen Gale, Al is survived by 14 grandchildren and one great grandchild. He is to be interred at the Southern Nevada Veterans Cemetery in Boulder City at a private ceremony.